Dutch national railway NS will run a reduced schedule on Wednesday morning with forecasted snow expected to fall across much of the country. Up to 3 centimeters of snow is expected across much of the Netherlands.
The limited train schedule is in place so the NS can quickly respond to problems, and provide more accurate travel information, the railway said. Passengers can expect longer travel times and more crowded trains.
Public transportation in the Netherlands was seriously disrupted Thursday morning after regional transit workers walked off the job at 4 a.m. in a one-day strike. The labour action is meant to call attention to what the workers have called unreasonable work pressure, and a pay raise that is capped 40 percent lower than what the bus drivers and train conductors wanted.
All train traffic to and from both Schiphol Airport and Amsterdam Centraal was halted Monday evening as snow continuously fell upon the region beginning just after noon. Hundreds of passengers were stranded at the airport, according to local broadcaster AT5. Large lines formed at the taxi rank there, while wait times for Uber vehicles was in the double digits.
The airport was setting up cots for people forced to sleep at the airport, broadcaster NOS reported.
The extra trains NS deploys during rush hour to help ease the pressure on overcrowded trains, are often late or do not show up at all, according to research done by newspaper AD and treinreiziger.nl based on ProRail figures. Travelers organization Rover calls this situation unacceptable.
Extra security measures currently in effect around Schiphol airport is causing delays for the buses NS deployed to make up for the lack of trains to the airport due to rail works
Fewer trains are currently traveling to and from Utrecht Central Station due to a switch malfunction. Delays are affected travelers to and from Schiphol, Den Bosch and Arnhem.
Travelers' behavior often leads to dangerous situations on trains, according to a survey NS performed among 224 chief train conductors. More than half of travelers jump on trains after hearing the conductor's whistle.
Only a very limited amount of train traffic will be possible from and to Utrecht Central Station on Monday morning. The construction works on the tracks around the station over the weekend took longer than expected and will continue into Monday morning, both NS and ProRail announced.
About 580 unemployed people in Tilburg were potentially exposed to toxic chromium 6 paint while sanding old trains in a back-to-work program
In the fight against overcrowded trains, Dutch railway NS opened two "pit stops" in Leidschendam and Onnen where broken trains can be repaired more quickly. In this way, the thousands of seats unavailable due to repairs can be put back into circulation sooner.
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.
Train passengers can expect overflowing trains during rush hour this morning. Thousands of students will be using the rail transport in protest against NS' plan to ask universities and colleges to change their lesson schedules so students can travel outside rush hour. They hope that this will relieve some pressure on overcrowded trains.
Some 27 thousand students are ready to descent on NS trains during morning rush hour on Tuesday, according to the Facebook page for the protest. This is in protest against NS' plan to have students travel outside rush hours by changing their class schedules. In this way NS hopes to relieve some pressure on overcrowded trains.
Consumers organization ConsumentenClaim is calling on rail passengers to take photos of overcrowded trains. The organization wants to use these photos as evidence in a possible lawsuit against NS
Dutch railways NS is partly stopping with the operation of station stores and providing bus transportation. Instead the company will be focusing on train transport and is pushing 3 billion euros into new trains and improved service, according to the company's new strategy. The strategy does not, however, guarantee a seat for every passenger in rush hour
A massive 90 percent of railway employees faced some form of aggression at least once last year. Threats, harassment and robberies are almost daily occurrences, according to a survey done by railway union VVMC and newspaper AD among nearly a thousand train conductors and drivers.
A spirit of celebration was on display at the newly-completed Den Haag Centraal train station on Monday. The station, capable of handling 270,000 passengers daily, officially re-opened after several years of construction work.
The Netherlands will commemorate the victims of the Paris attacks with a minute of silence at noon on Monday. Public transport and public broadcasting will be quiet for 60 seconds. All flags on government buildings are hanging at half-mast and memorials have also been arranged in several places in the Netherlands.
Another 1,800 asylum seekers entered the Netherlands last week, proving Justice State Secretary Klaas Dijkhoff’s expectations to be true. Secretary Dijkhoff last week said that it seems like people are making the crossing just before winter
A total of 112 trains ignored stop signals last year - the lowest number since the 80's. The number of kilometers traveled by trains increased almost by half in the same period.
A couple in Zaandam were fined 230 euros each for boarding the train after the departure whistle. The authorities accused them of "impeding the movement of public transport," they told broadcaster AT5.
Closing the gates at Rotterdam Centraal seems to be effective, according to Dutch railway operator NS. Sales of tickets at vending machines at the station rose by as much as 73 percen
The man who was killed in an accident between a train and a beer bike in Eindhoven on Monday has been identified as 24 year old football player Ruud Bijsterveld. He played in the first team of football club EMK from Neunen.
One person died Monday evening when the beer bike he was riding with several others was struck by an oncoming train, police said. The man killed in the accident was an injured football player celebrating a league championship with his teammates, according to Omroep Brabant.
