Nearly 20,000 hit in Utrecht power outage

With reporting by Zack Newmark. A large power outage left over 19,000 households without power on Tuesday afternoon in Utrecht province and Noord-Holland, according to electricity grid operator Stedin. The electricity issue means fewer trains will run between Utrecht and Amersfoort, Amsterdam, Baarn and Hilversum the NS said. An excavation crew working on J.J.P. Oudkwartier in Bilthoven may have caused the problem by making contact with a high-voltage power line, the grid operator said. The company first announced the outage at about 1:30 p.m. Problems were reported in De Bilt, Bilthoven, Maartensdijk, Den Dolder, Hollandsche Rading, Nieuw-Loosdrecht and Wijdemeren. Many of the problems facing the railway in the region are due to the power outage, the NS stated on their website. Travelers in the region were told to add thirty minutes to their travel time, with many being rerouted through Hilversum. Power was restored to most customers after a little over 90 minutes. There were roughly 800 customers without power at 4 p.m.