Rotterdam rail tunnel outage extends into third day, southbound services still halted

Rail service through the Willemsspoortunnel in Rotterdam will remain suspended on Monday after efforts by technical teams working overnight failed to restore critical safety systems disrupted by a major power failure.

ProRail, the infrastructure operator, said that despite continuous repairs, it is still impossible to safely restart train traffic through the tunnel. “There continue to be malfunctions in our systems, which means it is not possible to operate trains safely,” ProRail stated. “A very unpleasant situation, especially for travelers, whom we must ask to be patient a little longer.”

The outage began Friday evening when a power failure in the tunnel cut electricity and “knocked out the voltage,” ProRail explained earlier. As a result, essential systems including lighting, fire alarms, and gas detection stopped functioning.

Because of the disruptions, no trains are operating between Rotterdam Centraal and Rotterdam Lombardijen. High-speed trains between Rotterdam and Breda are also canceled. Dutch Railways (NS) is running replacement buses between Rotterdam Centraal and Rotterdam Zuid.

On Sunday, ProRail said power had been restored but that the sudden voltage spike likely damaged safety equipment. Before any trains can run, all systems must be comprehensively tested to ensure emergency exits, lighting, and detection equipment are fully operational.

International services have also been severely affected. The Eurostar from London is terminating in Brussels instead of continuing to Rotterdam, forcing passengers to transfer to other trains to complete their journeys.

ProRail initially expected testing to finish and trains to gradually resume around 4 p.m. Sunday, but the timeline proved too optimistic.

Additionally, train service between Groningen and Assen was suspended Monday morning after a car was struck by a train near the Bovenlangs crossing in Loon, close to Assen, RTL reports.

The crash occurred around 8:30 a.m., and all passengers on board were evacuated. The car caught fire following the collision, and emergency services responded in large numbers. It was not immediately clear whether anyone was injured. Dutch Railways said it expects service to resume around 11:30 a.m.