Handful of train routes back in service, mostly to and from Amsterdam
Dutch national railway NS and infrastructure firm ProRail said train traffic should slowly restart in a few places in the Netherlands late Wednesday afternoon, particularly in the Amsterdam area and Utrecht. There were significant problems along the railroad in the Northern Netherlands provinces of Friesland, Groningen, Drenthe and Overijssel. It was not clear when train traffic could be fully restored, and the Thursday morning timetable could potentially be impacted by the ongoing problems.
Train and public transport services were out of service since about 8:30 a.m. because of Storm Poly. Severe weather warnings were issued for the storm, which brought wind gusts that peaked at 146 kilometers per hour. Many of the routes in the north have "considerable" damage caused by the storm which must be repaired, the NS said. "No train traffic can take place there for the time being."
ProRail and NS said they expect to be able to restore some train service Wednesday evening. This mainly concerns parts of the provinces of Noord-Holland and Utrecht," ProRail wrote at 5:30 p.m. "These railway lines were declared safe and safe again after the storm." Service will gradually start up between Amsterdam and several key locations, including Schiphol, Utrecht, Rotterdam, and Hilversum.
Additionally, the NS will begin operating trains between Utrecht and Amersfoort, and between Den Helder and Alkmaar. The goal of the first trains running these routes is to bring stranded travelers back home. Passengers were advised to research travel planners to get a better overview of the situation. Keolis and Arriva also began running trains between Zwolle and the cities of Kampen, Emmen, and Enschede. Trains were also able to run on Connexxion's route connecting Amersfoort, Barneveld and Ede.
"On routes where no trains are running yet, we advise you to look for alternative travel options. If you have incurred costs to get home due to the storm, you can claim compensation," NS stated. Passengers can file claims via the NS website starting on Thursday.
Throughout the day, ProRail's incident response teams monitored sections of track to remove debris where possible. A little later in the day, the NS began slowly running empty trains used to inspect larger portions of the railroad.
