NS International Reviews 

super expensive trains and not the best in being reliable, only good side is that are better in terms of cleaningness and age , of some trains from neighbouring countries

I traveled from Eindhoven C to Amsterdam. Train was dirty. And i booked two tickets, one by mistake. I talked with the staff for a refund, and they did not do e refund. This is not normal.

I have been taking the trains for 7 years now and i consistently have delays of 30minutes + from Maastricht to Leiden. This has become truly unbearable with NS being fully unreliable. They were a handful of times they changed the departure time at the last minute (after you have woken up at 5:30). There were multiple times that they left us in the cold in sittard or random villages for train defects to wait for buses as alternatives that they poorly coordinate.
They need to do better - i am not even touching the subject of cost or cleanliness that seems secondary at this point. I always try to take trains for environmental purposes but i have given up and will be taking the car.

On the train from Zwolle to Groningen they closed the majority of the wagons (without giving a reason) and made everybody squeeze into the last few wagons despite there being no space. Ridiculous. Later an NS worker came to tell us there was more than enough space for everybody and that we should stop blocking the way. We did as he requested but the other wagons were still the same. In the end some of us had to sit on the (dirty) floor. All of this for nearly 30 euros. It’s frankly unacceptable.

I’ve been traveling with the NS (Dutch Railways) since I was at least 4 years old. But the way the Groningen-Zwolle line has deteriorated is absurd. Train after train is canceled, and if you want any clarity from NS, you end up speaking to someone from customer service who is just as uninterested in solving the issue as the rest of the organization.

The only reason people still use it is because it’s a monopoly; otherwise, no one would. The fact that they’re raising prices is ridiculous, especially considering their service is only getting worse.

Worst travel i have had in my life.

The information online about departure and arrival times, transfers and options for your trip could not be more wrong.
It cost me so much money and time.

From utrecht to dusseldorf is supposed to be a 2 or 2.5 hour trip. It took us from 19.21 until 4.30 the next morning to get to dusseldorf, so 8.5 hours.

0 communication about any changes.
0 alternative options except for paying hundreds upon hundreds of euro's for a taxi/uber or travel through 5 transfers (which were also delayed and uncommunicated).

IF YOU CAN AVOID NS INTERNATIONAL, PLEASE DO!!
save yourself money, time and your feelings.
For those that do want to travel with ns international, i wish you the best of luck getting to your destination.

Booked an international ticket from Amsterdam to Antwerp and back. Thought I’d make good use of my “dal uren vrij” subscription. And added on the 1st class option. The traimanager threatened to give us a fine because apparently the 1st class upgrade only counts in Belgium and not in the Netherlands, where I have a subscription! When contacting client services, I’m obviously shaken up and irritated that I almost got fined, was met with super rude employees. They said it is mentioned. It is not mentioned when booking or on the website clearly stated. They also gave no offering for a settlement. I am canceling my subscription and buying a car. I hate this company so much. On one hand you want to help the planet but on the other hand I cannot deal with companies like this.

Trains on the Amsterdam-Rotterdam route are constantly very late, often stopping in the middle of a field due to ‘technical problems’. The wi-fi does not work at all. It is absolutely impossible to plan your life and work when using NS trains.

It is one of the worst companies I have dealt with, there is no credibility. I never felt safe on the trip, I took all the time to switch from one train to another because of the cancellations that happened. And this I guess it's the worst think can happen

I booked a train It was a Sunday night, at 8 pm train(booking no: MWPGRSH) from Brugge to Amsterdam. And that train was not even canceled, that train did not exist. The train you guys sold tickets to, was not even visible in the systems. You guys didn't give any notification. No one knew what happened to that train that day. We had to buy a ticket via Eurostar from Brussels to Amsterdam, which was the latest available train on that day. And I asked a compensation for that train. But NS International declined. Because it was a train operated by them.

So NS Internaitional,
you guys are saying that we can sell any ticket to any train, and we can just disappear it any time we want. We don't even need to inform people about it. And when people complain about it, we can just tell our customers to take care of themselves. How this statement for the rejection of my compensation request "In case of a delay or any other disruptions in the train schedule, you are allowed to board the next, first available international train, but only if this train falls under the same conditions of carriage as the cancelled or delayed train." can be acceptable on late Sunday Night? So you guys are allowed to let your customers suffer, but we are not allowed to choose the most optimal action late Sunday night.

So what we should have done, was find another NS International train on Sunday Night. I am pretty sure there was none that night. So we should do what, spend the night at the train station or in a hotel. Were you guys going to compensate for the hotel cost? I highly doubt that.

And I would love to hear your advice on what we should have done. I mean `we` were 7 people. Let me repeat, 7 people. All of us had to do the same thing. The employees in Brugge advised us to stay at a hotel or take a taxi, and charge the cost to NS International. I told them NS International never compensated for that cost. According to your excuse, I was quite right. We found the cheapest option for ourselves and for you guys as well. And how you guys can tell us that we should wait for the next Intercity train.

horrible,
I take a train from Hoofddrop to Den Hag Lan VAn Noi
the total duration is 38minutes, train had delay as always for 15min

It’s hard to comprehend a company that can operate like this.
I lived in NL for a year and I’ve been constantly amazed at the lack of responsibility, reason, or humanity that this company holds. I don’t understand why they don’t have to follow to the EU travel standards, like giving reasonable compensation when they cancel a train after delaying it for over an hour. They seem to be able to opt out of any responsibility by putting in their terms and conditions that for cancelled international trains they don’t have to provide compensation, pay for accomodation while you are stranded in their very expensive cities, offer any information about what happened with the cancelled train, or offer a new way of getting to your destination.

The most recent example, and last time I will ever use this service, was on a service from Amsterdam to Berlin. After being delayed for over an hour it was finally cancelled. No alternative train was offered and the later services were completely full or also delayed/cancelled. it took an additional 7 hours and considerable additional costs of booking a last minute bus and then an Uber when I arrived at 1am far from my intended destination. NS international takes 6-8 weeks to reply, and doesn’t offer any compensation.

It is disgraceful that such a service can run in a country that is so wealthy and so heavily governed, legislated and controlling in every other aspect.

Expensive, dirty, late, not international friendly, awful customer service. If walking was an option, I would do that. But since it's not I'd try to look for a company that is worth the value for the money.

Poor service. Incapable in content and incapable in human behaviour. I called them to change booking. Ended up with major costs that on hindsight could be prevented. Called them 1 hr after initial call to ask for another correction but that was no longer possible in ‘the system’. No possibility to speak with a team lead, no help, no service, but added a lot of frustration. Hard to reach by phone, complaints are not processed. Whatsapp contact ends with a remark that it can take up to 8 weeks to process a complaint. If you want your customers to run away from you than this is the way to do it. Very sorry, would love to travel by train over car for sustainability purposes, but it’s hard if you cannot get in contact with each other if things do not automatically go as planned.

I would like to range with 0 start the NS company in Netherlands.
Is one of the worse. I have been travelling for one year for work from den Haag to Amsterdam and I always have a delay or I have to change 3 trains to reach to my destination. For the charge 30€ at least respect us that we go for work and we also depend of what time we go to work. They always have strikes and make a mess with the schedule.

Late, as always(!)

Besides being excessively expensive compared to the service provided, constantly late and every train being incredibly dirty on top of this, there's no announcement in English, which is frankly unbelievable nowadays.

First of all, if I pay a 200€ subscription, the least I expect is to have a decent transport service. I know they're doing a lot of maintenance on the railtracks these years to improve the transport, I guess (that obviously with great discomfort of the Dutch and non Dutch population). Meaning it's a lucky exception if your train is on time.

Second of all: the cleaniness. You can't put new trains and not do maintenance or cleaning at all, because in one year they will become obsolete again.
Seems like the cleaning ladies, if there were ever any are striking or cleaning once a month with a dirty mop. Embarassing.

Last, but not least: the English. For the love of God. It's 2024. Even if you go to Pizzo Calabro in Italy, they both speak Italian and in English, if not even in German in the trains.
I am learning Dutch, which means I can vaguely perceive what the drivers or automatic voices are saying.
I live here, but, I wonder...what do tourists do? Get lost? In the Amsterdam-INTERNATIONAL Schipol Airport - Den Haag line only Dutch? Seriously!?!? It's like punching yourself in the stomach three times.

In my opinion, NS doesn't live up to the Netherlands' standards, it doesn't even meet the European standards.

NS International have a departure procedure whereby when the whistle sounds no more passengers are allowed on the train. This is regardless of the fact that there are still passengers lined up to board the train! It’s unbelievable but absolute fact! So what is the point of buying a ticket for a train journey if it DOES NOT guarantee you entry onto the train? We had doors shut on us as we were about to board a train to Brussels with my husband’s arm caught in the door - see previous review. NS not refunding extra tickets we had to purchase to get us to London. Have escalated this to higher authorities in The Netherlands and we will not let this matter rest. This is plain theft and this sham company should be exposed for their shonky operations which are causing much anger, distress and heartache to travellers throughout the world.

Trustpilot must have 0 star option for companies like this.
I bought a ticket from their website. They charged my card but never sent me a confirmation email with booking number.
I tried to reach them on their website and whatsapp but no answer.
Then they wrote back to me but a bit too late.
I had to arrange another transportation by then.

They never gave my money back for the ride I couldnt't take because of them.
This is outright theft!
How can a company like this be allowed to exist in a country like Netherlands!

We booked a ticket from Amsterdam to Bruges with a change in Brussels. On the date of the departure, we received an email notifying us that due to weather conditions, we are advised to change or cancel our tickets. The app let me request the cancellation only of the first part of the ticket from Amsterdam to Brussels, but not for the second part - from Brussels to Bruges, which meant we would get a partial refund and nothing for the part of the ticket from Brussels to Bruges. Their advised phone was not answering when we've called to ask why I would need a second part of the trip if I can't get to Brussels in the first place. We took a risk and came in time for our planned journey, the train departed on schedule, no issues. Despite that, I have received further 5 copies of the same email notifying me that I am required to change or cancel my ticket. The last one came when we were already in Brussels, about to depart to Bruges.