ProRail staff shortages again affects train traffic; No trains on some routes
Again trains are canceled because rail manager ProRail's traffic control is understaffed. As a result, no trains will run between Utrecht and Arnhem from 7:00 to 9:00 on Tuesday morning. There are no trains between the cathedral city and Rhenen either. NS reports that no buses will be used on that route on Tuesday morning. Ongoing travelers are advised to travel via Den Bosch.
There are also no trains between Barneveld-Zuid and Ede-Wageningen on Tuesday morning between 7:00 and 9:00. Connexxion is deploying buses to transport passengers.
ProRail has been struggling with a shortage of traffic controllers for some time. It sometimes forces the rail manager to remove trains from the timetable. According to the rail manager, this so far has happened during the holiday periods. "We try to scan nationally where necessary and deploy people in the short term, but that is simply not always possible," said a spokesperson. "That is, of course, very annoying."
The rail manager expects to have solved the staff shortage "as much as possible" by 2023. "We will do everything we can to prevent it, but until then, there is a chance that this will happen now and again." ProRail asked passengers and former employees, among others, to temporarily fill in when there are gaps, the spokesperson said.
Reporting by ANP