NS hit by Microsoft Cloud outage; Travel planner, ticket machines affected

Microsoft said it is looking into reports of problems with Microsoft 365 and its Azure cloud platform. The statement follows a surge in outage reports, which in the Netherlands has led to significant disruptions for organizations such as the NS.

The Dutch Railways faced disruptions on Wednesday, affecting their online travel planner, ticket machines, and OV-fiets rental network. Currently, passengers cannot use the travel planner, purchase tickets at stations, or rent an OV bicycle. However, the travel information screens and station gates are still operational. It is unclear how long the disruption will continue. Passengers can continue to plan their journeys using 9292.

Microsoft is temporarily redirecting internet traffic for its 365 services to “healthy infrastructure,” which the company describes as a short-term fix. The cause of the outage is still under investigation. Microsoft 365 covers applications like Outlook, Teams, and OneDrive, as well as various business products.

Azure is widely used by businesses, and government organizations depend on the platform for a range of digital services. Microsoft stated on its outage information page that around 5:00 p.m. (Netherlands time), users experienced difficulties accessing its Azure cloud services, causing disruptions to certain services.

According to Downdetector.com, which monitors service disruptions, over 20,000 users reported issues with Azure, while Microsoft 365 received close to 12,000 complaints.