The operating expenses of NS rose by €142 million from €4,965 million in 2016 to €5,107 million in 2017. This was mainly due to higher costs for the infrastructure levy and franchise fees (€69 million) and increased ‘other operating expenses’ (€74 million).
Operating expenses
(in millions of euros) | 2017 | 2016 |
| | € | % | € | % |
Wages, salaries and social security charges | 1,841 | 37 | 1,813 | 37 |
Other personnel expenses | 69 | 1 | 75 | 2 |
Staff hired in | 146 | 3 | 151 | 3 |
Depreciation, amortisation and impairments | 369 | 7 | 345 | 7 |
Consumption of raw materials, consumables and stocks | 505 | 10 | 508 | 10 |
Own capitalised production | -161 | -3 | -128 | -3 |
Subcontracted work and other external costs | 475 | 9 | 481 | 10 |
Infrastructure levies and franchise fees | 930 | 18 | 861 | 17 |
Other operating expenditure | 933 | 18 | 859 | 17 |
Total operating expenses | 5,107 | 100% | 4,965 | 100% |
Wages and salaries
Wages, salaries and social security charges rose by €28 million from €1,813 million in 2016 to €1,841 million in 2017.
When adjusted for the sale of Qbuzz in 2017, the increase for the Netherlands was 6.1%. This increase was caused by the pay rise due to the collective labour agreement (CAO) of 2.0% as of 1 January 2017 based on the 2015-2017 CAO, and 2.3% based the CAO agreed as of 1 October 2017. Furthermore, we faced higher pension and social security contributions and the inclusion of the supplement for irregular hours in the holiday pay following changes in the regulations. The increase in the average FTE count was 3.9%, up to 18,758 FTEs. This increase can be seen in the operational jobs (particularly in Safety and Service).
The rise in wages and salaries in the United Kingdom after eliminating UK exchange rate effects is 6%. This is caused by the growth in franchises. The average FTE count rose by 2.3% to 10,402 FTEs. The exchange rate effect is €40 million.
In Germany, the effect of the rise in wages and salaries is 24.2%, which was caused by the start of the Niederrhein-Netz franchise in December 2016 and by the consolidation of WestfalenBahn as of December 2017 (adding 300 FTEs in December 2017). The average FTE count rose by 24% to 1,105 FTEs.
Depreciation and amortisation
Depreciation and amortisation (including impairments) rose by €24 million, mainly from the commissioning of rolling stock and a correction made to the depreciation and amortisation in the past.
Infrastructure levies and franchise fees
The access charges for the rail infrastructure (infrastructure levy plus franchise fee) increased by a total of €69 million to €930 million. The costs were in €443 million in the United Kingdom (€389 million in 2016) and €106 million in Germany (€89 million in 2016).
Other items
The ‘other operating expenditure’ rose by €74 million in 2017, mainly because of the fine of €41 million imposed by the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) and higher costs for the lease of train rolling stock by Abellio UK (€18 million) and Abellio Germany (€12 million), caused by growth within existing franchises and the start of new franchises.