Rush hour traffic jams top 900 km during Storm Benjamin; High-speed trains scrapped
Rush hour traffic peaked at over 900 kilometers of traffic jams just before 5:30 p.m., as workers tried to make it home before Storm Benjamin hit the Netherlands on Thursday. The peak volume of traffic was unusual, considering the central and northern regions of the Netherlands were in the middle of the autumn school holiday period.
Making matters worse, Dutch national railway NS announced all high-speed trains were out of service between Amsterdam Zuid and Rotterdam Centraal from about 4:50 p.m. until at least 7:30 p.m. This was “due to strong winds” along the route, the NS said. Earlier, the passenger train firm said it would limit service between Roosendaal and Vlissingen starting at 3 p.m., anticipating “longer travel times, additional transfers, and increased crowding.”
Afternoon traffic was further complicated by the discovery of a sinkhole during roadworks on the median of the A12 during the morning rush hour, with research needed to determine the depth of the hole.
The bulk of the traffic hotspots were in the areas around the four largest cities, but there were major traffic jams around Arnhem, and problems were growing along the north and west sides of Den Bosch.
The eastbound lanes of the A12 were closed from Wageningen to the Velperbroek interchange, causing over an hour in delays. Heavy traffic jams were also reported along every alternate route in the area, especially the A325.
Delays also covered over a hundred kilometers of the northbound A2 from Belgium towards Eindhoven and on to Utrecht. Traffic was at a standstill between the Belgian border and Eindhoven, and again between Boxtel and Waardenburg.
Elsewhere, there were problems in various spots on the A10, starting from the A4 and A9 from Schiphol Airport, then in both directions on the ring road around Amsterdam.
Construction work meant delays in both directions on the A4 between Amsterdam and Rotterdam, with delays of over 30 minutes in some areas. There were pockets of stop and go traffic on the routes in to The Hague as a result.
Rijkswaterstaat’s traffic information has issued advice for anyone having to drive during the storm. Drivers are urged to keep a safe distance to the car in front of them, keep in mind the possibility that the hard wind gusts could push vehicles to a different lane, and brace themselves for the possibility of debris or late maneuvers of the car in front of you.
Anyone driving vehicles with (empty) trailers, trucks without loads, caravans, and motorcyclists are advised to delay their trip and not go out on the roads if possible. People are also advised to keep an eye on the latest weather reports and traffic information.
