Trains go dark at Roosendaal after electrical fire

No train traffic is possible to and from Roosendaal on Tuesday morning. A short circuit caused by an electrical fire in a substation means that there is no electricity on the overhead, according to ProRail.

The fire caused considerable damage to the equipment, cables and overhead, a ProRail spokesperson said to news wire ANP. ProRail engineers are working to repair the damage, but in the mean time no train traffic is possible to and from the city. ProRail can't say how long it will take before train traffic is resumed. "We are seeing if it is possible to create a kind of bypass from other substations so that power can be put back on the overhead", the organization said. "But here too it is not yet clear if it will work or how much time is required for it."

NS expects that the train traffic will resume around 10:30 a.m. Buses have been deployed to transport passengers between Roosendaal and Bergen op Zoom, Breda and Oudenbosch. Passengers should take extra travel time of up to an hour into account, NS advises.

The problems in Roosendaal also means extra delays for people traveling to and from Belgium. The route between Amsterdam Centraal, Antwerp, Brussels Zuid/Midi already has delays of up to 45 minutes due to maintenance work on the tracks. These activities are expected to last until Friday.