NS will suspend services on Wednesday, Sept. 9, and the international services that cross the Netherlands stop with them. The union FNV confirmed the strike is going ahead in a notice published Sept. 4, and NS has since said there will be no trains anywhere in the country that day.
The international cancellations cover EuroCity, EuroCity Direct, Eurostar Continental, Eurostar Channel, Nightjet and ICE, plus the regional Roosendaal to Antwerp service and the Liège to Aachen Drielandentrein.
A train may still run in Belgium, Germany or France and simply not cross the border. If your ticket touches Dutch track that day, assume it does not run.
One thing does run. The Airportsprinter between Amsterdam Centraal, Schiphol and Hoofddorp operates four times an hour throughout. It is the only rail link to the airport. It has run during previous strikes as well, and Schiphol went to court over the issue in 2024.
Local transport goes too. GVB in Amsterdam and HTM in The Hague stop from 4 a.m. Wednesday to 4 a.m. Thursday, and staff at regional operators are striking too, so regional services should be expected to be affected.
The clock differs by role. Operating staff and bus operators strike from 2 a.m. Sept. 9 to 2 a.m. Sept. 10. Maintenance staff start earlier, at 10:30 p.m. Sept. 8. FNV moved the start from 4 a.m. to 2 a.m. deliberately, so the disruption would clear sooner on Thursday.
What runs in the hours immediately before 2 a.m. Wednesday isn't spelled out, so overnight arrivals should check with the operator directly.
The strike is against the Dutch cabinet’s plans to cut social security, not against NS. FNV wants the plans withdrawn, including a faster rise in the state pension age and cuts to unemployment and disability benefits.
What to Do About It
Move now rather than Monday. Rebooking capacity on Sept. 8 and Sept. 10 will thin out over the weekend, and a strike that removes Eurostar and ICE pushes several countries’ worth of passengers onto the same alternatives.
The strike is on the ground, not in the air. Reaching the aircraft is the problem. From central Amsterdam the Airportsprinter solves it. From anywhere else in the country, plan on a long taxi or a night near the airport.
NS has said its journey planner will not be updated until early next week, so anything you check before then won't reflect the strike.
Thursday should be normal, but the restart is not instant. Trains only begin moving again at 2 a.m., and ProRail has said the preparation needed to restart the network may not be finished in time. Check before travelling Thursday morning rather than assuming.
On refunds, NS applies its strike arrangement and passengers can claim under its money-back-for-delays scheme. Trade press reports that the separate option of claiming compensation for alternative transport is no longer offered. Passengers should confirm on ns.nl before assuming either way.
If you were due to arrive in Amsterdam that day from Brussels, Paris, Berlin or London, treat the trip as cancelled and rebook around it. Waiting to see is the expensive choice.
Sources
FNV, “Bezuinigingen nog niet van tafel, OV-staking 9 september gaat door”, Sept. 4, 2026
NS, “Public transport strike: no NS trains all day on Wednesday 9 September”, last modified Sept. 3, 2026
NL Times, “All national, international trains scrapped on Sept. 9 except Amsterdam-Schiphol”, Sept. 3, 2026
Transport Online, “Landelijke ov-staking legt op 9 september ook goederenvervoer per spoor stil”, Sept. 4, 2026