Part 3:
Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box


A train ticket to travel from my home in Wormerveer to Amsterdam Sloterdijk and back is 8.60 euros daily. I pay less than this overall, as I have fixed myself a subscription; 79 euros a month (2024). Yet at least once a week me and plenty of travelers on that route pay a full price ticket just to end up standing up to an hour a day. Even worse, sometimes to not even fit in the train. Meanwhile first class compartments are mostly empty.
Two examples of trains, an Intercity and a Sprinter and their first class capacity, 132, respectively 80 seats. The second class capacity is 466, respectively 458 (that includes the foldable seats). The ratio is around 1 first class seat for every 5.7 second class seats.




Who is even using first class? NS workers? Elderly people able to afford it? People who work for a company that pays this service for them?People who don’t want the maintenance of a personal car? People with disabilities or illnesses that need to ensure themselves a seat? People who want to work during their commute? Clueless tourists who are about to be yelled at?

What would be the consequences of lowering the number of first class seats or even abolishing them? Trains running at higher capacity with less carriages, hence less personnel? Less delays due to more efficient distribution of NS workers? Equal treatment of all users of NS services insofar everyone has the guaranteed seat they paid for?