Hectic rush hour expected due to canceled trains, bad weather

Road users should expect a very busy rush hour on Monday morning. No train traffic is possible on one of the busiest routes in the country, due to maintenance work that is taking longer than expected. And rain and wind will only add to the problems. 

Work on the train tracks around Gouda is taking longer than expected, NS said on Monday morning. As a result, no train traffic is possible between Gouda and Woerden, and only "very limited" train traffic is possible between Utrecht Central Station and Rotterdam Central station and between Utrecht CS and The Hague CS. Buses will run between Gouda and Woerden.

"We regret that", a spokesperson for ProRail said to ANP. The work was supposed to be done by Sunday evening. "It is not clear at the moment how much time the work will still take."

Weather in the Netherlands is also expected to be miserable during rush hour. "The rain area is coming to a halt near our country, which means that the rain can last a long time, especially in Limburg", weatherman Wilfred Janssen said, according to AD. "Not only the rain, but also the wind will affect traffic." Strong winds with gusts around 75 kilometers per hour are expected, especially in the coastal areas.

According to traffic information service VID, Dutch highways are busy on Monday mornings, even under the best conditions. "The bad weather can easily lead to a new traffic record before the morning peak", the organization warned. 

Last week the morning rush hour record was broken two days in a row.