The Thalys train from Amsterdam to Paris was halted in Rotterdam on Wednesday morning, after a man "acting aggressively" caused some panic on the train, the Rotterdam police said on Twitter. "Travelers heard the man call 'Allahu Akbar', and panic broke out briefly," the police said.
A witness told broadcaster NOS that the man attacked travelers and shouted 'Allahu Akbar'. Panicked travelers tried to run to other compartments. According to the police, no one was hurt and no weapons were found.
Transit companies Thalys and NS are working on a direct train route between Amsterdam Centraal and Disneyland Paris and Charles de Gaulle Airport. They hope to launch these routes in April next year. In return, the route between Amsterdam and Lille will be scrapped, AT5 reports.
The Belgian intelligence services knew about the perpetrator of a failed attack on a Thalys train between Amsterdam and Paris in 2015 three years before the attack happened, according to the annual report of the Belgian supervisory committee on the intelligence services, Het Parool reports.
The Belgian authorities arrested four persons on Monday in connection with a foiled terrorist attack on a Thalys high speed train between Amsterdam and Paris in August 2015, NU.nl reports.
Belgian police officers raided addresses in Molenbeek, Anderlecht and Laken. Searches were also done in the prisons in Andenne and Marche-en-Famenne. No explosives or weapons were found. Four people were arrested for questioning.
The Netherlands, Belgium, France and United Kingdom reached an agreement on implementing passport controls on large international trains. A joint task force will be established to discuss this with Thalys and Eurostar, ANP reports.
The task force will also work on introducing better passenger lists for international high-speed trains. The intention behind this it so that security services can make sure no wanted criminals are on the train.
On Monday the Belgian authorities released six suspects connected to a foiled attack on a Thalys train from Amsterdam to Paris in August last year
Railway strikes in Belgium mean that no intercity- or stop trains are traveling between Amsterdam Brussels on Tuesday.
NS decided to stop using Belgian coaches on the Amsterdam-Brussels route for the time being due to reports that the coach doors sometimes open en-route
The trains traveling between the Netherlands and Belgium are running again as usual on Wednesday, NS announced. The first two trains two the Netherlands' southern neighbors - a Thalys and an Intercity - already departed.
Most trains between the Netherlands and Belgium were cancelled by national Dutch railway NS on Tuesday morning after train stations in and around Brussels were closed by authorities, the NS stated. The decisions were made after three separate suicide bombings were carried out at the Zaventem airport and the Maalbeek metro station in Brussels.
The Dutch national railway NS launched a new timetable on Sunday. The new schedule features a number of significant changes, as well as the renaming of several train stations.
Thalys passengers may soon be facing extra security screenings on the cross-border trains after the terrorist attacks in Paris.
The Public Prosecutor has decided not to file any charges against the young man who caused the massive commotion in Rotterdam on Friday by jumping on the Thalys train heading towards Paris and locking himself into the train's bathroom. According to the Prosecutor, the boy is not suspected of a criminal offence that justifies keeping him in custody any longer.
The police have lifted the security measures taken at Rotterdam Central Station on Friday and train traffic is slowly starting to pick up again.
The suspicious passenger who caused the evacuation of a Thalys train and the closure of Rotterdam Central Station on Friday morning, was unarmed. So far the police have not found any weapons. What exactly the man's intentions were is unclear, but there is speculation that he was simply a ticketless passenger.
The Rotterdam police has managed to get the suspicious passenger on the Thalys train at Rotterdam Central Station out of the train's bathroom.
The police's attempt to get a suspicious passenger off the Thalys at the Rotterdam station on Friday morning has disrupted train traffic. Confused passengers on stations all across the country are told to wait for the next train by train personnel, who themselves are waiting for updated information about the incident.
A Thalys train was evacuated on Rotterdam Central Station on Friday morning due to a suspicious person that locked himself in the toilet and refuses to come out. The surrounding platforms were also cleared.
The terrorist threat level in the Netherlands is "at the top of the range" of substantial threat, and nearing critical level, according to Minister Ard van der Steur of Security and Justice. This is because of "what happened with the Thalys and some other things". Belgium has placed extra security at the Dutch embassy in Brussels, as well as at the embassies of other countries part of the coalition fighting against terrorist organization Islamic State.
A number of extra measures was agreed upon to increase security on the European railway network at a mini-summit on the issue in Paris over the weekend. Minister Ard van der Steur of Security and Justice, who attended the meeting, stressed that extra measures are necessary, but that 100 percent safety can not be guaranteed.
The sixth hero in the foiled attack on the Thalys train between Amsterdam and Paris on Friday, has been identified as 26 year old Frenchman Damien. He has been working at the BNP Paribas bank in Amsterdam for 4 years. As far as is known, he also lives in the Dutch capital.
YouTube channel Taiwanese Animators has posted an animated recreation of the events during the attack on the Thalys train between Amsterdam and Paris on Friday. The animators are normally known for creating satirical animations about world events.
The prosecutor in Paris has officially launched a formal judicial investigation for terrorism related activities against Ayoub el Khazzani - the man who committed the foiled attack on a Thalys train between Amsterdam and Paris on Friday.
Four of the passengers who overpowered and subdued a Moroccan gunman on a crowded train from Amsterdam to Paris on Friday, received France's highest honor - the Legion d'Honneur medal
