From 1977 to 2015, Heerenveen IJsstadion station was served during skating events at Thialf. After modernization of the platforms in the 1990s and early 2000s, the event service schedule was discontinued in 2015 due to declining passenger use. In the following years, there was no room in the NS timetable for a stop. In 2025, the province investigated whether an event service schedule would be possible again. The positive outcome of this research is the basis for the pilot.
Collaboration
The pilot was established through cooperation between the Province of Fryslân, the municipality of Heerenveen, Thialf, NS, ProRail, House of Sports, and the KNSB, with support from More2Win and Haskoning. With the pilot, the parties involved want to gain insight into how many visitors actually travel by train to Thialf. This trial contributes to promoting sustainable mobility and provides valuable information for organizing future large-scale events. Province of Fryslân, Municipality of Heerenveen, and Thialf have positively committed to providing financial guarantees for this project.
Temporary adjusted timetable
During the Daikin NK Allround and Sprint 2026 (February 28 to March 1, 2026) and the ISU WK Allround and Sprint 2026 (March 5 to 8, 2026), the NS train will stop at Heerenveen IJsstadion. During these events, an extra Sprinter will run between Leeuwarden and Zwolle and between Zwolle and Leeuwarden, resulting in two Sprinters per hour instead of one. At the stations Wolvega and Steenwijk, the Sprinter stops once per hour (in addition to the Intercity that stops twice per hour at Steenwijk). Train tickets to Heerenveen IJsstadion can be purchased from 90 days before the NK, and we recommend always checking the current train times via the NS travel planner.
