Winter storm disrupts trains across Netherlands, halts buses in Noord-Brabant

ProRail reported that multiple trains were delayed or disrupted due to snow on Sunday, which can cause switches to freeze. “Yesterday, the peak was around the Utrechtse Heuvelrug. Now there is more snow in the south,” a ProRail spokeswoman said.

She added that showers were expected to ease in the afternoon, and crews were working to repair the affected switches. Some switches are equipped with heating systems, but “switch heating cannot always prevent service disruptions during heavy snowfall,” she explained.

NS reported that trains across the country were affected. Intercity services between Eindhoven and Heerlen were running with extra travel time of up to 15 minutes, a situation expected to continue until just after midnight on Monday.

Sprinter trains were canceled or delayed on multiple routes, including Utrecht to Tiel, Dordrecht to Roosendaal, Utrecht to Breukelen, Tilburg Universiteit to Eindhoven, and Zwolle to Leeuwarden, with delays lasting into the early afternoon. Services were also disrupted on Groningen to Eemshaven, Leeuwarden to Stavoren, Leeuwarden to Harlingen Haven, Schiphol to Utrecht, and Amsterdam to Almere due to defective trains or frozen switches.

Reduced high-speed service between Rotterdam and Breda and partial cancellations from Breda to ’s-Hertogenbosch added further complications. In addition, NS warned travelers that trains from Schiphol to Leiden were running late, with up to 15 minutes of extra travel time.

Bus services

Bus services in Noord-Brabant were largely suspended on Sunday morning. Arriva kept buses in West-Brabant and Oost-Brabant off the roads until at least 12:00 p.m., citing safety concerns. “We need to see how the situation develops afterward,” an Arriva spokeswoman said.

Hermes, which operates buses in Zuidoost-Brabant under Transdev, also halted services. “Due to the slippery conditions, we consider it unsafe to operate with multiple passengers in a bus,” the spokeswoman added. Transdev said it was continuously monitoring conditions to determine when buses could safely resume.

Severe snow on Saturday had already forced cancellations in Utrecht, Arnhem, Nijmegen, and on the Veluwe. In Utrecht, U-OV services operated by Transdev restarted Sunday morning, though longer buses were suspended, resulting in the cancellation of line 28. Passengers were warned to expect delays or further cancellations. Bus services in Arnhem and Nijmegen also resumed Sunday after being halted on Saturday.