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Signaling problems cause railway chaos around Amsterdam
Thursday 22 March 2012
Rail commuters in central parts of the country are faced with widespread disruption on the trains on Thursday morning because of serious technical problems around Amsterdam.
Dutch Rail (NS) says it will be at least midday before problems with the points and signalling systems have been solved, allowing services to return to normal.
Travellers to Schiphol airport, Leiden, Almere, Utrecht and Rotterdam will also experience problems, the NS said on its website. Metro services in Amsterdam are operational and travellers can use the Fyra high speed train without paying a supplement.
'We are sorry that no replacement bus services are available,' the website said. According to the Telegraaf, taxi services are in short supply in Amsterdam as people try to reach Schiphol airport using alternative methods.
Some 500,000 people use the train to get to work in the Netherlands every day. The railway problems have had a knock-on effect on the roads, with heavier traffic and longer queues than on a normal Thursday, the Telegraaf said.
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I found this news report after I found long lines at the ticket counter in Centraal station, and then the clerk said that she could not sell any tickets, even for later in the day. I knew something was up when I arrived at the station, because there were news trucks and reporters with microphones all over the place.
I'm not sure what this will do to my Rotterdam trip for today. It's about 9:45 AM on Thursday right now, so I think I may wander around Amsterdam a little bit and then check in at the train station at around noon (unless I go back to the hotel or otherwise find Internet and Google it...).
Check back soon as I may post further brief updates. In the meantime, here's a bonus pic from my travels:
A second class car on an intercity train.
Ahhhh. Just like Boston. Hope the kink in the plans turns into an interesting bump in the road. Sorry, cheesy travel humor could not be avoided. Dar
ReplyDeleteA bump in the road can mean something very different in Amsterdam...
ReplyDeleteJust returned to the hotel from my morning walk. The technical snafu with the trains has been resolved, although it will take hours to restore the whole system to normal. I'm going to head to the station now - there's supposed to be a train leaving in about 35 minutes ...
I am so glad that your trip to Rotterdam was not derailed.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to an update!