NS cancelling trains on key routes this week due to heat; Passengers will need water
As a potentially record-breaking heat wave continues in the Netherlands, Dutch national railway NS said it will cancel trains on five key routes affecting the five largest cities in the country, as well as Schiphol Airport. The reduced schedule is in addition to the planned labor union strike affecting public transportation on Wednesday.
Fewer trains will operate between Schiphol Airport, Leiden, and Rotterdam, as well as Schiphol, Utrecht, and Arnhem, the NS said. Service will also be slashed between Rotterdam and Utrecht.
Some of the trains between Amsterdam and the central station in The Hague will also be dropped. Additionally, fewer trains will run between Alkmaar and Sittard, which also stops in Eindhoven.
The NS did not provide an end date for the disruption, saying that the national meteorological office, KNMI, has issued a Code Orange warning for intense heat in the coming days. The Netherlands could see temperatures remaining well above 30°C into Sunday, but that could extend further through the end of June.
The specific routes could run on a reduced timetable until the heatwave comes to an end. The route between Bergen op Zoom and Zwolle will also be impacted, but only on Wednesday, the NS stated.
Action was taken because the high heat could be a health hazard for both passengers and workers, the NS said. Hot weather can also cause rail stock and equipment to malfunction.
“The heat can cause problems, particularly for double-decker trains. When temperatures are high, components can overheat. Breakdowns can occur, especially if it remains warm at night and a train cannot cool down,” the rail company said in a statement.
Passengers were advised to monitor the NS travel planner before beginning their journeys. Those who do take the trains are advised to carry water with them for their entire train trip.
Should ProRail engineers are called to the scene of a stalled train, they will bring water with them for the stranded passengers. The NS has also installed water bottle refilling points at over 250 stations in the Netherlands.
“As the sun heats them up, the rails expand. Because they have hardly any room to accommodate that extra length, tension builds up,” said railroad infrastructure firm ProRail. This can cause tracks to buckle, and a chain-reaction can also cause the failure of larger sections of track.
“This is the most common failure during extreme heat,” ProRail stated. “It is not only the rails that suffer from the heat,” the organization explained. “Signals, switches, and electronic systems function optimally within certain temperature limits. When those limits are exceeded, systems can become disrupted.”
ProRail also said they are concerned that computer rooms and relay cabinets can also overheat causing other malfunctions. “The likelihood of delays will thus increase.”
