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17 March 2024, 8:12 am The train to The Hague is suddenly cancelled
We were waiting for the train at AMSTERDAM ZUID station to get to Schiphol Airport station to catch the next train, NS-INTERNATIONAL.
We had booked a Eurostar to Paris at 08:33 from Schiphol Airport Station.

Due to the cancellation of the NS train we did not arrive at Schiphol Airport Station on time and as a result we were unable to board the train.
Can we claim a refund for not being able to use the ns-international train ticket, is this possible?


 

Unfortunately, NS is not liable for damage resulting from delays. At most, you could file a claim for the delay on the route Amsterdam Zuid - Schiphol, but then the compensation is so low that you would not be entitled to it either.

But, if you have one, you could check if you can get this compensated through your travel insurance.


When having an international connection, it's not very smart in the first place to plan a 15 minute connection with no alternatives (due to track work last weekend). Should you've taken an earlier train to Schiphol there wouldn't have been any problem and even if that one had been cancelled you'd have had sufficient time to use an alternative route to Schiphol.

I'm not into refund policies for international tickets, but am afraid it's hard to get one as the problem wasn't with Eurostar.

Did you have a through ticket from Amsterdam Zuid to Paris? In that case you'd be able to apply for a (partial?) refund via nsinternational.nl as you'd have had over 60 minutes of delay. Should you've bought seperate tickets to Schiphol, I'm afraid you'll only get those refunded partially for the 30 minute delay.


Did you have a through ticket from Amsterdam Zuid to Paris? In that case you'd be able to apply for a (partial?) refund via nsinternational.nl as you'd have had over 60 minutes of delay. Should you've bought seperate tickets to Schiphol, I'm afraid you'll only get those refunded partially for the 30 minute delay.

Even in that case, you have two separate agreements, whereby you would not be entitled to compensation for the missed connection.

https://www.nsinternational.com/nl/tariefvoorwaarden/vervoersovereenkomsten


Did you have a through ticket from Amsterdam Zuid to Paris? In that case you'd be able to apply for a (partial?) refund via nsinternational.nl as you'd have had over 60 minutes of delay. Should you've bought seperate tickets to Schiphol, I'm afraid you'll only get those refunded partially for the 30 minute delay.

Even in that case, you have two separate agreements, whereby you would not be entitled to compensation for the missed connection.

https://www.nsinternational.com/nl/tariefvoorwaarden/vervoersovereenkomsten

If the entire journey from Amsterdam Zuid was booked with NS, then this is not the case, since Eurostar in the Netherlands is operated by NS. That means there is a through contract at least for the Dutch section of the journey. The information on this page of NS International is therefore incorrect.

When having an international connection, it's not very smart in the first place to plan a 15 minute connection with no alternatives (due to track work last weekend). Should you've taken an earlier train to Schiphol there wouldn't have been any problem and even if that one had been cancelled you'd have had sufficient time to use an alternative route to Schiphol.

NS themselves advise such connections, so please don't blame the victim.

@innowork What did you do in practice? Continue your journey not?

If you continued your journey, NS should have rebooked you onto the next available connection to Paris. This should be free of charge, also if you bought your tickets for NS and Eurostar separately, see the AJC.

If you booked the entire journey in one go via NS International, then you have a through contract and you are also entitled to compensation for delay for the entire journey.


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