Number of major rail disruptions already past the allowed limit for 2025

This year, ProRail is failing to meet the performance agreements it made with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management regarding major disruptions on the railways. So far this year, 530 major incidents have occurred. For the first times, the number of disruptions has exceeded the permitted 520.

The number of major disruptions on the railways has been rising for years. There were 455 in 2022, 475 in 2023, and last year, there were 507. According to Prorail, the increase is “the result of a complex interplay of factors.” The railway manager has four categories of disruptions: third parties (42 percent), process (10 percent), weather (4 percent), and technical (44 percent).

Disruptions caused by third parties account for a significant portion of the issues. Nearly 59 percent of these consist of collisions or near misses with people. Many of these are suicides. “Unfortunately, we are seeing an increase in the number of disturbed individuals in the railway area, a situation also reported by the police in their national reports,” ProRail wrote.

The number of technical malfunctions has also risen in recent years, ProRail reported. These malfunctions are primarily caused by switches, train detection, track positioning, and power supply.

The railway company wants to reverse this increase with short- and long-term measures, “but that is a complex task.”

In the short term, ProRail wants to focus on expanding camera surveillance at high-risk locations to detect risky behavior. It is also implementing physical barriers to prevent collisions. In the long term, ProRail is investing in data about the condition of the track for more targeted maintenance.