Bad crash on the A20, Schiphol train issues cause messy rush hour; Holiday traffic expected

The morning rush hour was particularly difficult in the Rotterdam area on Wednesday after a car on the A20 highway was struck, spun out, and was struck again. Several problems were also reported by the NS national railway, particularly with trains to and from Schiphol Airport. The upcoming rush hour periods were expected to be hectic with many people expected to try and get an early jump on the Christmas holidays.

The accident involving a wrong-way driver and multiple vehicles took place on the A20 near Terbregseplein just after 6:30 a.m. “The car started to spin, went in the opposite direction and was hit again,” police said. The driver was injured in the accident, and was taken to an area hospital. An investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Traffic was diverted as a portion of the A20 and A16 were closed due to the incident. That led to traffic jams on those two highways which increased quickly, and involved delays of up to 70 minutes in some areas by 8 a.m. Infrastructure agency Rijkswaterstaat expected the closed stretches of highway to open in the course of the morning, saying the cleanup was going faster than expected.

Meanwhile, the situation was also troublesome on the railroad. Dutch national railway NS said overdue maintenance was the cause of problems to and from Schiphol Airport, resulting in “far fewer trains” operating on those routes. The problems were expected to continue at least until noon, impacting trains that run between the airport and Amsterdam Zuid, Rotterdam Centraal, Leiden Centraal, Lelystad Centraal, Almere Centraal, and Hilversum.

A collision also prevented trains from running between Amsterdam Centraal and Haarlem for a good portion of Wednesday morning. A signal outage also impacted all trains operating on the route between Leeuwarden and Franeker, adding at least an hour of additional travel time. Another disruption also affected trains traveling between Dordrecht and Gorinchem.

Those using the roadways and train system over the next few days should be prepared for busier rush hours than normal, as people try to start the holiday season a bit early. “The Christmas holidays start this weekend and we usually see more traffic on the road on the days before the start of a holiday. There may also be more traffic than normal outside rush hour,” Rijkswaterstaat said.

Some people may work their last day of the week on Wednesday, leading road users to hit the highways a little earlier. But the bigger issue could come on Thursday and Friday both during and outside of typical rush hour periods.

Strong gusts of wind and heavier rain showers were predicted for the end of the week, which could prompt warnings from the national meteorological office. “In combination with an accident, breakdown, normal traffic or holiday traffic, these weather conditions can cause more traffic jams and delays.”