Public transport in disarray due to extreme weather conditions

Public transport in the Netherlands has been significantly affected by Storm Darcy. The Meteorological institute KNMI has issues a Code Red weather warning for the entire country due to the snow and strong gusts of wind. Trains will not be running until at least noon, and many buses have come to a standstill. People have also been urged not to take to the roads by car unless necessary.

Dutch Railway company ProRail has announced that train traffic has been halted for most of the country, with the exception of certain distances in the provinces Friesland and Groningen. ProRail reports that there, traffic will be restarted by carrier Arriva. For the rest of the country, traffic will not resume until at least noon on Sunday. This is because the movable parts of many of the switches are frozen, meaning that trains could not switch rails anymore. Because the snow has not yet stopped, it is difficult to solve the situation, reports ProRail.

Bus schedules have also been affected, as many buses are halted on Sunday morning, transport companies report.

In Limburg and Brabant and parts of Zuid-Holland, many buses will not be operating. There are fewer metros in Rotterdam and Amsterdam. Bus traffic in the Zaan region has come to a standstill.

Eindhoven Airport has confirmed that they will not be operating any air travel until at least 1 p.m.

As for the roads, Dutch infrastructure agency Rijkswaterstaat has so far received some 85 reports of cars that slipped off the road due to the winter conditions. According to the authority, this mainly concerns material damage. Otherwise, car travel has been quiet.

Gritters have so far spread over 18 million kilos of salt and traveled some 163,000 kilometers. In almost the entire country, the road surface temperatures are below freezing. Only in parts of Limburg, the road surface temperature remains above 0 degrees Celsius.