No more train traffic in the Netherlands tonight after technical failure | Abroad

The NS had initially advised travelers to postpone their train journey at least until 5 pm, but that was soon adjusted to 20 hours. And now it sounds like the trains won’t run tonight.

“Although the cause of the malfunction has now been resolved, the impact remains significant,” NS said in a statement. “In order to start reliably, systems must be updated and trains must be brought to the right place. That takes time.” It is expected that the normal timetable can largely be started on Monday morning, according to the NS.

Today only routes of regional carriers were used, but the travel information is not up to date there either. It soon became busier in the stations. In Utrecht Central, for example, rows of people formed in front of the information desks. “But they have nowhere to go,” says a photographer from the Dutch news agency ANP on site.

The spokesperson for the NS says that there is now a lot of staff to provide people with information. The NS previously advised to postpone train journeys or to look for an alternative if people were already on their way. Those who were already en route, in many cases had to leave the train at the next station.

There is no reason to think that it is a possible hack of the system, the NS can further report. The decision to stop driving is one you’d rather not take, but not only was there no up-to-date travel information for travelers, there were also problems behind the scenes. For example, the malfunction made it difficult to rearrange personnel and trains if, for example, there was a delay somewhere.

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