The travel information systems in the Netherlands are amongst the best in Europe. This is hardly surprising, since both NS and the other transport operators are continuously looking for ways to provide new travel information services. However, it is not like that in every country. In order to create a generic format for passenger information services, we developed the Future Travel Information Services (FRIS) platform. This platform enables us to provide high quality travel information that is seamlessly integrated with other transport modalities throughout the whole of Europe. Even for cross-border services.
Train passengers in the Netherlands have been enjoying the benefits of high quality travel information on digital screens in stations and platforms for many years now. NS and ProRail are continuously providing new travel information services to all transport operators via the physical station screens, online channels such as 9292, and with the NS app. Occasionally, a customized solution has to be developed for certain locations with specific challenges. For example, at Enschede train station, where scheduled train services of the German transport operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) arrive and depart throughout the day. All of the European transport operators have been working hard to make the cross-border integration of information services as easy as possible. In practice, however, it is not always easy to bundle the various travel information channels together within the existing display systems in Dutch train stations.
Together with NS, we have been exploring the possibilities for the integration of the passenger information of NS and DB within the existing display systems. Because the FRIS platform provides seamless integration with other transport modalities, even for cross-border services, it is the ideal solution for this issue. By aligning the presentation of information with other digital screens in Dutch train stations right down to pixel level, there are no noticeable differences. This means passengers now have real-time information about the train services of both Deutsche Bahn and all the Dutch transport operators on the same screen.
