News of: Thursday, January 25 2007,
The good old days have returned: NS (the Dutch Railways) have opened a first class lounge in the Central Station in Amsterdam.
The NS Lounge (site in Dutch only) is a luxurious waiting room with design furniture, a bar (with free coffee, tea, sodas and beer), some meeting rooms, internet access and a reading table with a collection of (international) newspapers and magazines.
The lounge is accessible for
- holders of a first class international train ticket
- holders of an NS Business Card with a first class train ticket or reservation
- holders of a first class month or year pass
- until July 31 2007: anyone with a first class train ticket of E 10.- or more.
The lounge is located on platform 2A, and open from Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm, and Saturday, Sunday and official holidays 10am - 6pm.
The Amsterdam Centraal Station lounge is to be followed by one in Rotterdam and on Schiphol Airport, later this year.
The old first class waiting lounge in the Central Station is still open to the public - it has been a grand café/restaurant (called '1e Klas' (site in Dutch only), on platform 2B) for many years. The interior has been restored to its original 19th century splendour.
