Overijssel wants to sue ProRail over faulty railway construction

The province of Overijssel is investigating whether ProRail can be held liable for mistakes made in the construction of a renewed railway between Kampen and Zwolle, the Telegraaf reports. The rail manager announced on Thursday that the foundation under the railway is not stable enough to handle the fast electric trains intended to use the line.

ProRail renewed the railway from Kampen to Zwolle for around 40 million euros, to prepare it for new electric trains that can run at 140 kilometers per hour, according to the newspaper. But during construction, ProRail failed to take into account the swampy subsurface in the area, resulting in the foundation not being stable enough for the fast trains. As a result, the new Zwolle Stadshagen station set to open on Sunday, will have to be bypassed or passengers will miss their connections.

"Administratively the province and municipalities expressed their great surprise and dissatisfaction with the situation that has arisen to ProRail." Overijssel deputy Bert Boerman wrote in an internal memo to the Provincial States, according to the newspaper. Fixing this problem is expected to cost millions of euros, and the province wants to hold ProRail responsible for that amount.