Travelers trapped behind closed gates as NS forgets to open Amsterdam Zuid station

NS forgot to open the two main entrances of Amsterdam Zuid Station on Thursday morning, leaving disembarking passengers stuck inside the station and departing ones unable to catch their train. The rail company blamed a communication error, AT5 reports.

The entrances on Gustav Mahlerplein and Zuidplein weren’t opened as usual this morning due to a communication error with the security company responsible for opening and closing the station, an NS spokesperson said to the Amsterdam broadcaster. According to them, the shutters were broken in recent days. So NS told the security company they didn’t have to open and close them as usual.

NS repaired the shutters yesterday but decided not to close and open them yet. Due to a miscommunication, someone locked the station last night. But the security company was under the impression that they didn’t have to open the station this morning, so it didn’t deploy anyone to do so.

In the end, the station opened 45 minutes later than usual after a flood of complaints from travelers on social media.

An NS spokesperson stressed that the entrance on Parnassusweg is always open, and travelers could have used it this morning. The rail company acknowledged that not everyone knew about the open entrance and said it would adjust its information provision at the station to fix that.