Eighteen people were hurt, two of them seriously, when two trams collided on Rotterdam’s Erasmusbrug this morning.
The crash happened around 11:10 AM, when one tram was standing still on the bridge and a second one hit it from behind. Emergency services swarmed the scene, but the impact was severe enough to require a trauma helicopter.
What actually happened on the bridge?
The front tram had stopped because the Erasmusbrug was open for boat traffic, something that happens regularly on this bascule bridge across the Nieuwe Maas.
The tram behind it then struck the stationary one at speed, according to regional broadcaster Rijnmond.
The front of the rear tram ended up buried into the back of the one in front, leaving glass and debris scattered across the bridge. One of the two vehicles then derailed, as reported by Hart van Nederland, and the force of the impact threw several passengers forward.
Two people were seriously hurt
The Veiligheidsregio (regional safety authority) confirmed 18 people were injured in total, with two of them seriously hurt and taken to hospital. According to Rijnmond, “dozens of people are currently still providing first aid to the victims.”
At least one passenger was trapped inside a tram and had to be freed by the fire brigade, before being taken to hospital.
The driver of the rear tram was also injured, but the severity of his condition is unknown. As reported by the Algemeen Dagblad, a conductor on that tram said the vehicle in front stopped suddenly and a crash could no longer be avoided.
Op de #Erasmusbrug in #Rotterdam is een ernstig tram-ongeluk gebeurt. Er is een tram bovenop een andere tram gebotst. Er zijn meerdere slachtoffers en hulpdiensten zijn massaal opgeroepen. De brug afgesloten in beide richtingen. pic.twitter.com/q6oNd3FBjw
— Ridderkerk_nieuws (@Rkerk_nieuws) July 22, 2026
The bridge is now closed to traffic
The Erasmusbrug is fully closed to cars, cyclists, and pedestrians, and there’s no word yet on when it will reopen.
Needless to say, tram lines 3 and 5 are not running across the bridge. In the south of the city, trams stop at Veenstraat, while on the northern side they turn around at Willemsplein.
For live updates on your route, check the RET website, since the situation is still changing. Transport operator RET says it cannot yet comment on what caused the crash, and an investigation is underway.
Were you near the Erasmusbrug when this happened, or has it thrown off your commute? Let us know in the comments.
