It’s official: Dutch train troubles will continue as forecasted, with ongoing inconveniences expected to last for YEARS to come.
Oh, and if you’re planning any days out in Amersfoort this summer, you might want to think again. More on that later.
Big project, big consequences
As part of joint renovation works by ProRail and the NS, various Dutch rail routes are due for work over the coming years.
Huge expanses of track are being replaced, and the resulting disruptions for passengers are major.
As ProRail CEO John Voppen tells NU.nl, “after forty years, everything has to be replaced” — and the peak of work will take a whopping six years to occur.
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Why so long? The delays are mainly down to staff shortages, meaning more work has to be carried out during the day and outside of holidays.
Oh, and Amersfoort will be completely inaccessible
The planned track works will affect one city in the Netherlands significantly more than others this summer.
A major maintenance project taking place in Amersfoort between July and August means few or no trains will be running for seven weeks. 😳
First up, trains between Amersfoort and Amsterdam will stop running for four weeks. Then, in mid-July, there will be no trains between Amersfoort and Utrecht.
There will be three whole weeks where Amersfoort will be completely inaccessible by train. You’ve got to feel for the approximately 80,000 travellers from, via or to Amersfoort every day. 😳
READ MORE | Dutch Quirk #26: Complain about the NS
The work starts on Thursday, July 4, and will go on until Monday, August 19 — when all trains should run accordingly again.
ProRail ensures it will provide more information “in a timely manner,” but as far as we can see, their updates about the “period, nature and duration of the work” are still stuck in 2023…
Has your 2024 commuting experience got off to a bad start? We feel you. Share your thoughts in the comments below!
