All trains stopped in Utrecht; snow, ice hinder car traffic

The rail traffic around Utrecht came to a standstill just before 08:30 this morning because of a fault in the control of signals and points. NS recommends that travelers avoid Utrecht for the time being. There are no trains traveling from Utrecht to Gouda, Leiden, Utrecht Overvecht, Arnhem, Den Bosch and Tiel. It is still unclear how long this disturbance will last. Rail administrator ProRail expects that the problems will persist for a "very long time". The cause of the fault is still unclear, but according to a ProRail spokesperson, it has nothing to do with the winter weather. The morning rush hour on the roads is also a lot busier than normal. According to ANWB, there are currently about 465 kilometers of traffic jams. The main cause of the traffic problems is slickness on the roads. There have been accidents in several places. The roads are busy in the whole country, but the longest traffic jams are on the A15 between Dodewaard and Geldermalsen and on the A16 at Ridderkerk toward Breda. Both traffic jams are more than 10 kilometers long.