Our performance in a wider context

Reputation

We have engaged the Reptrak Company to monitor and calculate our reputation. The RepTrak score fell from 69.0 in 2020 to 68.0 in 2021 . which is above our target score of 64.0 for reputation. NS is doing particularly well on social values and the attractive employer score.

Benchmarking against other carriers

NS is constantly benchmarking its scores against those of other carriers in order to monitor and further improve its performance. In 2021, however, NS did not conduct the regular franchise benchmark because it would have been unduly influenced by the effects of the COVID-19 crisis. NS did however exchange data and experiences on those effects and carried out a series of targeted case studies. These benchmarking studies have shown that the financial effects of COVID-19 on NS have been much more severe than on many other rail transport operators. While, under normal circumstances, other carriers, including regional carriers in the Netherlands, receive government support, NS depends on the market for all its income and pays a franchise fee to the government. In addition, many other carriers are fully compensated by the government for their costs, while the availability payment in the Netherlands does not cover all costs.

Just as with other carriers, scores for operational performance, such as punctuality, are higher than normal. Also note that practically all carriers adapted their service offering to the fall in passenger numbers.

Transparency

NS is transparent about its performance. Every month, it reports via www.ns.nl on the latest scores for the KPIs that have been set for the main rail network franchise, with detailed supporting evidence. The COVID-19 crisis prevented us from measuring all KPIs throughout the year. NS is included in the permanent research group of the 250 largest Dutch organisations for the Transparency Benchmark. This is a tool provided by the Ministry of Economic Affairs for improving corporate sustainability reporting within the Netherlands. The results are presented in a Transparency Ladder that is publicly available and widely communicated. In 2021, NS came in ninth place.