As a fellow Dutchman, I agree that complaining about the NS is a very tempting thing to do. However, we should not forget that our train infrastructure is considered world class across multiple metrics, including reliability (yes really).

To recalibrate your expectations I wholeheartedly recommend taking a train ride from somewhere in Germany to anywhere else in Germany.

You just repeated an outdated meme. Go compare our punctuality statistics with our southern and eastern neighbours. Then do the rest of the world. Make sure to account for differences in definition of punctuality between providers.

Yes, delays are annoying and there are things the train companies can do better, but our system is most of all reliable enough and we are doing just fine.

The leaves things is actually kind of intresting.

It turns out that if you grind wet leaves it creates a lubricant.

Lubricating the tracks is kind of an issue if you want to stop a 80 ton train

Cancelled trains are shown in red and can be toggled off and on