KLM cancels free train service to Schiphol Amsterdam Airport
Beginning 1 June 2003, KLM will cancel the exclusive deal with Dutch Railways (NS) to offer KLM passengers complimentary train service to Schiphol on the day of travel from anywhere in Holland. According to KLM, this change is due to limited usage by travellers of the free service.
And why was such a useful service so woefully underused?
Maybe because neither KLM nor NS made any effort whatsoever to actually tell anybody about it.
Thursday 29 May 2003 | Paul | The Pit
You say they did away with the free rail travel to Schiphol because it was underused? I expected it to be done away with, but for a different reason: it amounts to incestuous “state support” to KLM, i.e. it’s anti-competitive because the other airlines that fly out of Schiphol don’t have the institutional connections to offer the same benefit. So I was expecting EU authorities, when they found out about it, to come down hard on the practice. Maybe that’s the real reason it was cancelled - or maybe it isn’t.
According to the KLM website…
“After consultation with the NS rail company, KLM has decided to end the contract for free rail travel for KLM passengers as per 1 June 2003. The value attached by passengers to this extra service does not warrant the significant investment required by KLM. And the number of KLM passengers taking the train to Schiphol has not structurally increased.”
… Which I would take to mean that the service is underused.
As for being anti-competitive, I would be very suprised if the NS weren’t charging KLM for the service. As such, I don’t see it as being unfair since other airlines could use the money not paid to NS to reduce their fares.