NS International Reviews 473

Purchased a 3 day travel ticket,when I went to collect it at the station was told the was no voucher on it when they scanned the barcode, had to purchase another. 30euros down the drain.

We went from Hengelo to Leipzig and our very first train was cancelled. Luckily, Kelvin from the customer service was there to save our day. He rebooked our tickets and offered multiple options. This took away our stress and our holiday was able to start! Thanks Kelvin!

I had a problem with my eticket. I waited one hour for an answer "You are inactive, ill close the chat" what the? How? I need to check every minute while traveling? You left me stranded, I think if this continues I'll buy a car again

It’s becoming disgusting to travel with NS. It’s just horrible… Strikes, Delays, Cancellations, Failures..it’s very unreliable

My first train was canceled so I drove to the next station by car. Got on the train in Utrecht but my ASSIGNED seat was not available (it wasn't even on the train), they announced we would not be getting any money back because it had something to do with the strikes. So I stood for the next few hours untill we got to Dusseldorf. Now that I want to change the my trip back to be a day earlier I'm not being helped at all (it wasn't included in the ticket) which I understand but why is there no help from NS, they can mess everything up but won't help solve a problem.

I booked a trip from Paris to Leeuwarden with NS International, including a Eurostar to Rotterdam and connecting Dutch trains to Leeuwarden. A rail strike announced just a couple of days before my travel led to all Dutch national trains being cancelled, although the Eurostar services were scheduled to run as normal. This meant I could arrive in Rotterdam but would have no way of reaching my destination. Since NS only offers up to 25€ for alternative transport or hotel costs, I wanted to cancel the whole trip.

It was then that I discovered that my Eurostar and Dutch national rail tickets were sold as separate contracts, even though they were booked and paid in a single transaction. It means I didn't have a "through ticket" as defined in the European Rail Passenger Rights regulations. This meant the Eurostar ticket standard conditions applied and with a non-flexible tariff, the ticket couldn't be cancelled and refunded as long as the Eurostar trains were still operating. Also NS has no obligation to find or pay for alternative travel. This subtility is explained on the NS International website, if you take the trouble to open the terms and conditions page when booking. My fault for not reading it, but who reads all the small print when buying online?

My expectation is that a national rail company should go beyond the strict contractual responsibility when there are exceptional circumstances such as a complete absence of train services within the country. Refunding my Eurostar tickets would have cost NS at most about 150€, assuming they don't have some favourable arrangement with Eurostar to recover most of the sum.

I gave them 2 stars because at least it is easy to contact and exchange with their customer service in English. Unfortunately it seems the customer service team was either unwilling or unable to adapt to the circumstances.

Don't trust NS International. They're there to sell to you, not to help you.

Booked the ICE to Berlin from NL many months in advance. Checked one week in advance, schedule said that "this is your originally booked schedule, please check shortly before departure". Bit ambiguous.

After deeper investigation on the DB site I found that our booked train with our reserved seats between Duisburg and Berlin had been taken out of the schedule. Don't know when or why this had happened, but I know that NS International couldn't be bothered re-booking us or even informing us to make us aware we had to change the booking. They just let you float and run into trouble, they don't care. No updates, nothing,

On chat with their customer support the message was that it's our problem. Just travel there, try to negotiate your way into the train with the train manager, sit on your luggage, good luck, bye.

Managed to cancel in time, but there'll be many poor souls who are not that lucky.

No more NS International for me.

Atrocious Eurocity Experience.
Old trains and old seats. Not the comfort you would expect in Europe on 2025.
First class is a scam, as the controllers let everyone in first class regardless on their ticket.
Never again.

Terrible experience, the APP is not correct, the times are incorrect. On the my departure; it was 3:40hrs behind. On the return the trip home; the inaccurate APP information caused me to get on the wrong train, missed connections. Just book a flight or pay for Eurostar maybe even book DB direct but don’t travel with NS international unless you want an unpleasant adventure.

Awful awful awful. Just avoid it at all costs. Den Haag to Hamburg absolute DISASTER. everything delayed, missed connections some of the trains FILTHY. Den Haag- Brussels - connection in Breda is IMPOSSIBLE. This is NOT AT ALL a comfortable alternative to airtravel. DON'T DO IT

There is always a delay, every day of every week, especially in the mornings, in some cases even full cancellation of trains, how I’m am supposed to commute to work safely if things like this happen every day? I woke up earlier to be on time on early train to commute to work and then they cancel it?

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