The ongoing Fyra dispute has contributed to Holland’s national rail operator, Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS), recording a net loss of 76 million euros in the first half of 2013.
Withdrawal of the high-speed service as well as rising operating costs and a difficult winter have all been blamed for financial struggles of NS.
The figure marks a significant fall on the 147 million euro profit in the first six months of 2012 – although NS has said the stark contrast is partly caused by the sale of Utrecht Stadskantoor station in June 2012.
Announcing its half year results, NS described the winter as ‘one of the toughest winters in the last decade’ and estimated that the potential loss from the cancellation of its Fyra services could climb as high as 300 million euros.
There was some good news, however, in the form of performance levels of NS services around the country. In the first six months of the year, NS saw punctuality increase from 88.2 per cent at the start of the year to 92.6 per cent in the second quarter.
