Of all the things you could steal, it was the copper in the train tracks near Zwolle that was targeted on Sunday night.
While the attempt was not quite successful, it caused enough damage to ruin many people’s commutes. “Although nothing was removed, the damage is significant,” a spokesperson from ProRail tells RTL Nieuws.
This has majorly disrupted train traffic as repairs could last until 3:00 PM today.
Train chaos up north
So, who will this affect? Well, no trains are running between ‘t Harde and Zwolle or Zwolle and Lelystad.
This is causing a big problem for essentially anyone who wants to travel in the north of the Netherlands. Zwolle is a hub to get anywhere in the north, and the rail manager calls the situation “quite complex”.
According to ProRail, there is also a regular disruption on the only alternative route between Amersfoort and Barneveld, in addition to some engineering work and signal failure on other routes.
A daring heist, a lot of disruption
At least we can take comfort in knowing that someone will answer for this major nuisance. According to ProRail, police responded quickly to the attempted theft and a man was arrested.
The NS charges you as if there are diamonds hidden in those rails, but the copper inside clearly has its own fan club.
Between December 1 2023 and November 30 2025, copper theft resulted in around 24 train disruptions, according to Rijden de Treinen.
This is far from a rare occurrence in the Netherlands, and it takes a lot less to disrupt the NS’ daily schedule of 4,800 trains.
Words from the wise: if you plan to travel the affected routes, postpone or cancel your journey today, if possible.
What’s the worst train disruption you have faced in the Netherlands? Tell us in the comments.
