Nearly all train traffic shut down around Schiphol Airport this morning
Nearly all rail traffic around Schiphol Airport ground to a halt on Wednesday morning as the result of a switch failure. The malfunction was first reported at about 6 a.m. and was expected to last more than three hours.
Some trains were still running between the airport and Leiden Centraal Station, national railway NS wrote in an update. “Fewer Sprinters are running between Leiden Centraal Station and Den Haag Centraal Station, and no Intercity Direct trains are running between Amsterdam Centraal Station and Schiphol Airport due to a switch failure,” the NS said.
A repair operation was underway, railroad manager ProRail said. “It is still unclear how quickly we can resolve the switch malfunction. We advise travelers to consult a travel planner,” the infrastructure firm stated.
"We will look at where the fault comes from and how we can solve it. It could be something small that is resolved quickly. But if it is something major, it will take longer," a spokesperson for the firm told ANP.
Once it is resolved, it will be a gradual process before NS can begin operating at a normal timetable. Passengers were advised to find other modes of transportation to and from the airport during the morning hours.
Only a handful of additional buses were arranged to transport passengers between the airport and the Amsterdam-Zuid station, with stops at RAI, Duivendrecht, Diemen-Zuid, and Bijlmer-Arena.
The metro was running as normal between Zuid and the other area stations, including Amsterdam Centraal, Sloterdijk, Lelylaan, and Bijlmer-Arena. The major traffic monitoring services from Rijkswaterstaat and ANWB did not report an increase in road traffic by 8:15 a.m. Morning rush hour traffic is typically lighter on Wednesdays than on other weekdays.
It was the second major outage affecting rail traffic to and from the airport in a 12-hour period. “Train traffic to Schiphol had already been disrupted since last night due to damage to an overhead line in the Schiphol tunnel. That damage was repaired overnight, and the work was completed at 7 a.m. this morning,” ProRail said.
“The switch failure is separate from this and will further disrupt train traffic.”
