Repairs still ongoing at Schiphol tunnel; only two lanes open

Technicians are still busy replacing cables in the Schiphol tunnel that were damaged by fire on Monday. Only two of the six lanes are open to motorists, which means traffic delays on the A4 from Amsterdam to The Hague during rush hour on Thursday morning, NOS reports.

On Monday a small fire broke out in the tunnel's cable channel. It was quickly extinguished and no one was injured, but it did damage a large number of cables. As a result, the lights, cameras and matrix boards aren't working. Repairs are taking a long time because the work is complex, according to Dutch public works department Rijkswaterstaat. Between 70 and 90 cables had to be replaced. And only a few technicians can work at it at a time, because there is limited space in the cable channel, located in the ceiling of the tunnel's air duct.

The entire tunnel was closed until Wednesday morning, when Rijkswaterstaat opened two lanes. The department can't say when the rest of the lanes will open. Tests have to be done to make sure that all installations in the tunnel are functioning properly.

The partial road closure is especially causing traffic problems during rush hour. Motorists are therefore advised to take an alternate route or use the train.