If you’re travelling south of Rotterdam this week, there’ll be no trains from Rotterdam Centraal to Breda or Zwijndrecht, so you’ll need to arrange alternative transport.
According to ProRail, the disruption will span July 21 to Saturday, July 25, while engineers carry out scheduled maintenance on a stretch of track. During that window, no trains will run on the affected stretch.
Which trains are affected?
The closure primarily affects trains between Rotterdam Centraal and Zwijndrecht, which follow the route towards Dordrecht.
In addition, there’ll be no service between Rotterdam Centraal and Breda via the hogesnelheidslijn (the high-speed line, or HSL). In other words, both regular and high-speed journeys south are hit.
NS is currently arranging alternative transport for passengers travelling these routes, so check the NS journey planner before you set off to see exactly what changes for your commute.
If your daily route runs through this stretch, expect a longer journey for most of the week. Replacement buses and metros tend to take longer than direct trains, so factor that in your travel time.
Why are southbound trains cancelled?
Fortunately, the culprit isn’t yet another cable fire. Instead, scheduled maintenance work will bring Rotterdam’s southbound train traffic to a halt for much of the week.
The main job is at Rotterdam Stadion, where the track crosses the two high-speed line tracks. Fixed crossover switches there currently stop trains from running at full speed, so ProRail is removing them to let traffic move faster.
Engineers are also renewing and clearing switches, carrying out protective coating work, and laying cables and pipes.
Is this work related to the recent cable fire?
Some maintenance work will be carried out near the same stretch of track where a cable fire caused chaos a few weeks ago.
However, ProRail has made it clear that the two operations are unrelated. This week’s closure is part of the wider Rotterdam train safety system project, which is upgrading the network’s ageing signalling to keep trains running safely.
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