Public transport strike in the Netherlands: Chaos on the roads as traffic jams pile up in the rain

It’s busy out there! Roads are twice as busy as usual this morning (ANBW) due to the public transport strike. Today there is no public transport – it’s also raining which means that people are choosing to drive and not cycle.

It comes to no surprise, but large traffic jams are forming across the country as people decide to drive to work due to the strike and the weather. According to NU.nl, by 7:30am there was 651km of traffic jams across the country – twice as many as usual.

The heaviest traffic is found around the biggest cities and also it’s concentrated mainly within the Randstad. Hopefully, the worst of the traffic is over, but it’s still busy out there in many places.

 

Trains will only run from Amsterdam to Schiphol and back

A train will run every 15 minutes from Amsterdam Central – Schiphol and back, stopping at Sloterdijk and Lelylaan, during before, during and after the strike.

Other than this, almost every single place in the country will strike! There will be no public transportation on Tuesday 28th May from the early morning, all the way until the start of Wednesday 29th May – so 24 hours.

 

Why is the national transport strike taking place?

Trade unions want the retirement age to freeze, as it’s rising to 67 by 2024. They want the retirement age to stay at 66, as they argue that it’s heavy work and their workers have the right to a healthy retirement.

This strike originally took place on the 18th March, but it was interrupted by the attack in Utrecht.

Have you been stuck in traffic? Let us know in the comments!

Emma Brown
Emma Brown
A familiar face at DutchRevew. Emma arrived in Holland in 2016 for a few weeks, fell in love with the place and never left. Here she rekindled her love of writing and travelling. Now you'll find her eating stroopwafels in the DutchReview office since 2017.

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