Even the worst European system looks good compared to New Zealand. We just started a 32 day closure of all train lines in Auckland, the first of 96 planned for the year. They aren’t far off needing press releases for when trains a running.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/537619/auckland-rail-shu...

I think every Dutchie who moans about their trains needs to spend a month in the UK LOL. I'm jealous of Dutch trains!

4 hour journey in peak time from Maastricht to Gronigen for 30 EUR without advance purchase? Incredible.

40% discount in off-peak times and weekends for 67 EUR/year? Bargain. We have a 33% discount option which is available to everyone but it is only for trains in the south of England (there lots of others for young people, elderly people, disabled people etc)

Very, very simple fare system in comparison to ours.

Great connections from Schipol.

I know it's not perfect - there are strikes, very busy trains etc.

You can complain about the Dutch NS, but in most countries, it’s way worse.

Some numbers people from other countries can only dream about:

punctuality less than 5 minutes: 89.7% punctuality less than 15 minutes: 97.0%