As a train passenger, sometimes things go wrong — but you never expect it to happen to the driver! Turns out things can go wrong for them too. Specifically, the direction of the train.
That’s exactly what happened on Wednesday evening when an NS train took a wrong turn from Woerden to Gouda, causing passengers to be considerably confused (and delayed), reports RTL Nieuws.
An unfamiliar view
The train in question departed as usual from Utrecht towards Gouda. However, near Woerden, it was sent in the wrong direction towards Bodegraven, making passengers look out the window and go ‘hé?’
Klaas-Willem de Jong was one of the passengers on the poor confused train, who noticed that something was wrong. “I thought: hey, the highway stays on our left. That only happens if you drive towards Bodegraven instead of Gouda,” he tells RTL Nieuws.
Time to back it up
Thankfully, the trip didn’t end in disaster, just a delay (so maybe a disaster for anyone with a tub of ice cream in their bag).
When the error was noticed by the train crew, the train was sent backwards towards Woerden, where passengers could get off and continue their journey.
This resulted in a delay of at least three-quarters of an hour, whoops! 😬
Translation: Never experienced this before @NS_online, but the train ‘turned off’ wrongly at Woerden, not to Gouda, but to Bodegraven. We are now standing still in the country, not far from Waarder and Nieuwerbrug.
What caused the confusion?
According to ProRail spokesperson, Martijn de Graaf, it was a series of unfortunate events that led to the incident.
According to de Graaf, it’s still not completely clear how the error occurred. However, shortly before the incident, there was another incident involving animals on the trail.
“There was a delay in the area due to a hit deer. Due to a combination of circumstances, it became very busy around Utrecht Central Station, which made it very busy for our traffic control. A train was sent in the wrong direction in that crowd,” he reported to RTL Nieuws.
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Another ProRail spokesperson apologises to travellers on behalf of the NS, “the fact is, of course, that this should not have happened. It is annoying for travellers; it causes nuisance and delays.”
Klaas-Willem went on to state that he’s “never experienced anything like it”, but is he spooked at all? Nee. He says he“won’t hesitate for a moment the next time he steps on a train.” 😃
Were you one of the passengers on this train? Tell us in the comments below!
