Many travellers with the discounted Nederland Dal Vrij Trein subscription will soon be switched to a standard NS subscription, more than doubling their monthly costs, NS has warned.
The summer rail pass, introduced for the holiday season, cost €49 per month and could be used for one or two months between 15 June and 31 August. The reduced price was made possible through government subsidies.
Once the subscription expires, it automatically converts to NS Flex Dal Vrij, which costs €127.95 per month.
When the higher rate takes effect depends on when travellers signed up. The large group that started using the pass on 15 June will move to the new rate from 15 August. Those who took out the subscription after 1 July were not eligible for a second discounted month. As a result, they have already been paying the higher rate since 1 August.
NS is advising customers to check whether a different subscription would better suit their travel needs.
“We naturally hope that many people who travelled by train this summer have become fans of the train because of this affordable fare,” an NS spokesperson said.
Nearly 400,000 people signed up for a Nederland Dal Vrij Trein subscription this summer. Together, they travelled around 329 million kilometres on NS services. According to the rail operator, more than 300,000 of those subscriptions are still active.
@anp | NEWS BRAINPORT
