Orientated on providing international passenger services between the Netherlands and neighbouring European countries, it promptly became a founding member of the Railteam alliance, with a 10% share in the group.

In 2004, NS International and NMBS/SNCB had jointly ordered 19 V250 train sets from the Italian rolling stock manufacturer AnsaldoBreda for operations between Amsterdam and Brussels and Breda on the HSL-Zuid and HSL 4 high speed railway lines.

[6][7] NS Hispeed claimed that the delay was primarily due to the lack of a formal ETCS level 2 specification; financial assistance in the form of reorganised track access charges for the unused HSL-Zuid line had to be arranged with the Dutch government.

[10][11] The operations of the V250 fleet would be relatively brief as, during January 2013, it was removed from service due to numerous technical issues pertaining to both reliability and safety in low temperature conditions.

[14] The continuous problems with the V250 caused a public outcry in both Belgium and the Netherlands, including accusations in the Belgian and Dutch media that only financial considerations were behind the decision to grant the contract to AnsaldoBreda over its competitors.

[16][17] On 17 March 2014, NS announced a settlement with AnsaldoBreda had been reached under which the trainsets would be returned for a refund of €125 million, €88m less than originally paid, while an additional compensation for each unit, up to a maximum of €21m, would be issued if resold.

This extended to international night train services, which the Dutch government was also reportedly considering granting on a fully open access basis between Amsterdam and Vienna.

[35] In September 2022, it was announced that NS International's Intercity service between Amsterdam and Berlin would benefit from increased speeds, cutting the journey time by 30 minutes by the end of 2023.

Regional cross-border services (from Arnhem, Enschede, Hengelo, Maastricht, Nieuweschans, Venlo, Heerlen and Roosendaal) are not part of NS International, nor was the CityNightLine from Amsterdam to Munich and Zurich.