See www.nsannualreport.nl for the online version NS Annual Report 2016 Table of contents 2 In brief 4 2016 in a nutshell 7 Foreword I NS Groep 10 Company profile 16 Report by the Executive Board 23 Report by the Supervisory Board 31 Dialogue with our stakeholders 47 Our strategy 57 Managing risks 69 Corporate governance 79 Finances in brief 89 Scope and reporting criteria 92 Outlook for 2017 II Activities in the Netherlands 96 The train journey experience 105 Operational performance 117 The door-to-door journey 122 NS as an employer 127 Other activities 130 Our impact on the environment and on society III Operations abroad 143 Abellio IV Financial statements 160 Consolidated financial statements 224 Company financial statements Other information 229 Combined independent auditor’s report and assurance report 239 NS ten-year summary This annual report is published both Dutch and English. In the event of any discrepancies between the Dutch and English version, the Dutch version will prevail. 1 NS annual report 2016 In brief 2 NS annual report 2016 3 NS annual report 2016 2016 in a nutshell 2016 was the year in which NS put a difficult period behind it and was able to start looking to the future again. We are working towards the mid-term review in 2019 when the authorities will assess our performance. We therefore took measures to improve our performance structurally, we adapted our strategy and we paid a great deal of attention to compliance and integrity. 4 NS annual report 2016 Our performance on the main rail network Baseline value for Target value for Performance 2016 2019 Realisation in 2016 General customer satisfaction with the 74% 80% 77% domestic main rail network General customer satisfaction with 68% 75% 78% HSL South services Customer satisfaction with personal safety 81% 83% 87% on the train and at the station Punctuality for passengers (indicator to be 90.0% 92.3% 91.3% achieved jointly with the infrastructure operator) Focus routes for punctuality for passengers 93.7% 95.6% 94.3% (indicator to be achieved jointly with the infrastructure manager) Punctuality for passengers on the HSL South 94.0% 96.0% 93.7% services (insofar as attributable to NS) Quality of the NS connections to other 93.7% 95.2% 94.3% carriers at the major nodes Passenger capacity at peak times (main rail 98.7% 99.2% 98.7% network) Focus routes for passenger capacity at peak 96.5% 97.5% 96.8% times Passenger capacity at peak times on 97.5% 99.2% 87.6% HSL South services (domestic) Journey information throughout the travel 78.0% 82.0% 85.8% chain Information on the train and at the station 75.0% 80.0% 82.0% about disruptions Many of our performance figures improved in 2016 compared to 2015. General satisfaction about travelling by train on the main rail network rose, as did punctuality, assessment of the cleanliness of trains and opinions on journey information. Nevertheless, it did not go well enough on all fronts: performance of the HSL South services remained below what was desired, for instance. Furthermore, we introduced the first new Flirt trains onto the tracks, which will help raise levels of travel comfort and improve the chance of getting a seat, and nearly three quarters of our trains ran on wind energy. Passengers also felt safer in the trains and at the stations. The attention we pay to safety remains undiminished; every incident is one too many. Unfortunately, the number of times our employees reported physical aggression increased. NS encourages staff to report all incidents of aggression. Integrity Since the irregularities in Limburg and the Fyra inquiry, we have paid a great deal of attention to integrity and compliance. NS has been reorganising its processes and structures and is encouraging a culture of openness and addressability. There is now an integrity portal that staff can go to with questions about integrity, we have a new screening policy, and measures have been taken to guarantee a level playing field and manage risks better. Abellio NS is continuing to acquire experience on the European railway market through Abellio and we are preparing for any further deregulation of the railways. In that regard, we have agreed that we will not take any major risks for new franchises. A piece of good news was winning the Greater Anglia franchise in October 2016. That was however offset by the loss of Northern Rail in April. ScotRail has got a challenging first year under its belt, as a result of which performance 5 NS annual report 2016 remains below target. Abellio won three new tenders in Germany and our train service between Düsseldorf, Bocholt and Emmerich commenced in December. A noteworthy point is that this means Abellio will be operating a cross-border franchise for the first time, from Arnhem to Düsseldorf in April 2017. Finances In financial terms, NS has a reasonable year under its belt, thanks for instance to a positive contribution from foreign activities and oneoff windfalls. Revenues were €5,093 million, which is an increase with respect to 2015 (€4,973 million). The main rail network franchise KPIs for 2019 are also leading factors in the financial policy for the NS business plan: as in 2016 (total investment of €791 million), we continued to invest in programs that help us achieve the KPIs, customer satisfaction, new rolling stock and productivity. Bringing the costs down further in the staff departments and in indirect costs will certainly be a challenge. Impact The mobility that we provide means that NS makes a positive contribution to Dutch society. Our social impact improved in 2016. Reasons include the fact that passengers travelled considerably more by train than in 2015 (over 350 million extra kilometres), which had a positive effect on our impact on mobility and safe travel with respect to the car. The negative environmental impact is the result of using fossil fuels. Because trains were running on 73% wind energy in 2016, that impact was less, yielding a positive effect of €15 million. Measures have also been taken that considerably reduced the negative impact of journey time in crowded trains. To provide safe travel, NS is working with its partners on preventing collisions and derailments or unsafe situations at the stations. There were only three incidents with injuries in 2016, compared with 30 in 2015. Because of a fatal accident involving a railway worker, the social costs of rail travel safety rose by €6 million (€3 million in 2015). 2017 In 2017, NS will continue on the course previously set. Concentrating on our core activities will let us genuinely focus on the passengers and help fulfil our social role of enhancing sustainable mobility in the Netherlands. Our electric trains in the Netherlands – including the first upgraded VIRM-I class double-decker trains – have been running entirely on green power since 1 January 2017. In terms of services, we are rolling out initiatives for greater ease of payment, such as travelling on account and paying by credit card. We are deploying increasing numbers of new trains, working on improving bicycle storage facilities and we will be opening the refurbished stations at Tilburg and Eindhoven again fully in 2017. 6 NS annual report 2016 Foreword ‘Illusion’ I went into the station, neither to say farewell nor to start a journey, but to be among people who live for a reason and have somewhere to go. (Eduard Hoornik) The world around us is changing rapidly – just think of things like Big Data, artificial intelligence or nanotechnology. And people are changing too. We are travelling more and more, for instance. The most conservative scenarios for 2050 assume growth in mobility of 23% for cars and 20% for trains. The central conurbation of the Netherlands – the Randstad – is getting busier and busier, as is traffic between the Randstad and Eindhoven, Maastricht, Groningen, Arnhem and Nijmegen. All this growth raises the question of how we are going to make our cities and surroundings accessible and good to live in. One answer is making public transport the obvious choice in urban areas. NS has drawn up a vision for this together with the carriers who operate in the major cities. We are also working with partners such as the ANWB and RAI to shape the future of mobility. Freedom of choice and being able to travel flexibly are keywords: travelling by train, carpooling or trams – whatever works best. That offers plenty of opportunities for public transport, but it does also demand substantial investments in the existing infrastructure. This will present the new cabinet with a major challenge. NS has its own role and responsibility in keeping the Netherlands accessible and in motion. We want people’s journeys to be as pleasant and as easy as possible, both now and in the future. Not only by train, but from door to door. After the irregularities in Limburg and the parliamentary inquiry into Fyra in 2015, we worked hard last year on regaining passengers’ trust. We have a new strategy that lets us focus on our core activities so that the performance for the passengers will improve in the longer term: aiming for better performance on the main rail network, world-class stations and helping make the door-to-door journey go smoothly. And 100% sustainable operation has been the motto for our electric trains in the Netherlands since 1 January 2017. That is why we are investing in new trains, expanding the capabilities of the journey planner, investigating alternative methods of payment and why we will be running six trains an hour between Eindhoven and Amsterdam from 2018 onwards.