A plan to run scheduled night train services between Groningen and the Randstad region is finally set to launch on January 21, the Dagblad van het Noorden reports.
The new service aims to plug a major gap in the country’s growing night train network, with the Arriva-operated train stopping at Assen, Zwolle, Lelystad, Almere and Amsterdam South on the way between Groningen and the Schiphol airport.
The initial plan is for the service to run once a week, with a 01:48am departure from Groningen’s main station on Saturday, arriving into Schiphol at 03:50am the same morning.
On the return leg, the train will leave Schiphol’s station at 05:07am on Saturday, rolling into Groningen for 07:17am. If this is a success, more routes are likely to follow.
Tickets went on sale last Friday and have a fixed price of €10, regardless of your arrival or departure station. The tickets are available via Glimble, Arriva’s travel app.
Arriva submitted a request to the Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM), asking for permission to run night trains, in June 2021. A few months later, ACM gave the transport company the green light to operate a new service from 2023 onwards.
Since 2021, it is possible for operators to offer transport services at their own risk and without government concession, the so-called train transport based on open access. With these services, Arriva is responding to the growing demand for more national night trains.
