THE HAGUE: Dutch rail operator NS on Thursday announced it will cut 500 jobs to curb costs, with the state-owned company posting a 109-million-euros ($118 million) loss for the first half of 2024.

“NS continues to make efforts to reduce the cost level” through a savings programme that includes 500 job cuts mainly at the head office, said a company statement.

Despite passenger numbers rising by 6.4 percent compared to the same period last year, ticket sales do not cover costs, it said. NS transports about one million passengers a day.

The Dutch rail passenger service mainly blamed the lingering effects of the Covid pandemic, saying it has “suffered structurally fewer passengers partly due to the continuing impact of working from home.”

“In addition, costs have risen sharply due to high inflation,” said NS, which employs around 20,000 people.

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NS said it aimed to keep “train tickets as affordable as possible.”

But Dutch news reports have said ticket prices were expected to rise next year by as much as 10 percent.

The Dutch government released 124 million euros in 2024 to postpone ticket price rises.

But NS said this money would not be available next year “which means that NS is forced to implement the postponed rate increase in 2025, on top of regular inflation.”