Maintenance, work to cause train woes this summer

Train travelers can expect a lot of delays this summer. ProRail has a great deal of maintenance and other work scheduled for the tracks, with most expected to cause extra travel time of 30 minutes or more.

NS lists 58 scheduled maintenance and other work projects for July and August. For example, ProRail will work on the track between Amsterdam Zuid and Lelystad Central Station from this Friday to Monday. People traveling between Almere Central Station and Schiphol or The Hague can detour via Amsterdam Central Station. And on Sunday, work is scheduled between Amsterdam Central Station and Utrecht Central Station. Detours are available but will add about 30 minutes in travel time.

Travelers between Utrecht and Eindhoven will be particularly affected. ProRail has two major projects scheduled on the tracks on that route. "For travelers, that means nearly six weeks of replacement bus transport," the rail manager said on Twitter in June.

A ProRail spokesperson previously told De Telegraaf that the rail manager deliberately chose the summer period for this type of work because there are fewer commuters. “It is a conscious choice to carry out so many activities at the same time during the holiday period,” the spokesperson said to the newspaper. “So that there is no weeks’ long delay, but the ‘suffering’ coincides in a short period.”

Train traffic in the Netherlands is already affected by staff shortages at NS. The Dutch rail company regularly has to run fewer trains because it doesn’t have enough drivers, conductors, or other staff. This week, fewer trains are running on six routes.