NS running fewer trains; more maintenance needed due to heat

NS is running fewer trains on three busy routes - the high speed line between Amsterdam, Schiphol and Rotterdam, between Amsterdam and Eindhoven, and between Eindhoven and Heerlen. The rail company is dealing with capacity problems because trains were exposed to the heat for a long time on Wednesday and therefore need extra maintenance on Thursday, an NS spokesperson said to AD.

"Yesterday trains were exposed to the heat for hours, which means that more maintenance is needed. That is why we have canceled a number of trains as a precaution", the spokesperson said. Three instead of five trains per hour are running on the high speed line, and four instead of six trains are running between Eindhoven and Amsterdam.

According to NS, the current timetable is still sufficient to get everyone to their destinations during this vacation time. "This change means that 92 percent of the trains now run on time", the spokesperson said to the newspaper.

Trains that have no air conditioning and windows that can't open have already been taken off the track. "These are really too hot now. We still have some old double-decker trains where the windows can open running. That is of course no fun either, but with this weather it wouldn't be anyway."