Amsterdam Centraal is a no-go zone for night trains this weekend, as ProRail will carryout cable maintenance from March 7 to 8. Daytime services will also run with reduced frequency, so plan ahead before you head out.
ProRail engineers will be cutting and transferring cables throughout the weekend as part of the station’s ongoing renovation programme.
As a result, trains can’t run to, from, or through Amsterdam Centraal during nighttime hours on either day. Replacement buses will be in service.
What routes are affected?
Trains that would normally terminate at Centraal will instead turn around at Amsterdam Muiderpoort or Amsterdam Sloterdijk.
On Saturday morning, passengers can use the metro with their regular NS ticket as an alternative until 9:20 AM.
Night trains on the Schiphol–Amsterdam Centraal and Utrecht Centraal–Amsterdam Centraal routes will both be replaced by buses for the full weekend.
During the day, NS warns that trains will run with reduced frequency to Alkmaar, Amersfoort, Breukelen, Haarlem, Schiphol Airport/Hoofddorp, Uitgeest, Utrecht, and Weesp. Platforms 1 through 7 will be closed for the duration, which means fewer trains and plenty of platform changes.
No trains will operate at all on the Amsterdam Sloterdijk–Amsterdam Centraal–Amsterdam Muiderpoort corridor.
The bigger picture
This isn’t the first disruption this year at the city’s main station, and it won’t be the last.
ProRail is in the middle of a long-running overhaul of Amsterdam Centraal that kicked off in 2022 and isn’t scheduled to finish until 2030.
The NS recommends checking the travel planner before setting off and factoring in extra travel time wherever Amsterdam Centraal features in your route.
Will the weekend disruptions affect your plans? Drop your alternative route in the comments — you might save a fellow commuter some stress.
