The usual bustle around the station. Run, roll, stroll. Inside Amsterdam Central you could just buy train tickets on Sunday and it sounded familiar: “Dear travelers, the intercity to Alkmaar from 13:58 is not running.” The understatement of the month.
Because the trains from 14.03 to Hoofddorp and from 14.05 to Vlissingen and the 14.08 to Breda were also not running. In fact: on Sunday afternoon not a single NS train ran throughout the country. The cause was a malfunction in the IT system, as a result of which current travel information could not be passed on. Not to travelers, via the signs or the app, but also not internally. NS had no choice but to shut down the whole thing on Sunday, a spokesperson said on the phone.
The IT failure that occurred at the end of the morning was resolved by the beginning of the evening. But because all systems then had to be updated and because all trains had been stopped haphazardly around noon, it would take until Monday morning before the normal timetable could “largely” be “started up”. Read: no guarantees.
The cause of the malfunction was not yet known on Sunday evening, a “thorough investigation” will follow. The spokesperson was able to say on Sunday evening that there is no reason to think of a hack.
The communication process is also being evaluated. Just after noon, it sounded that “no trains will run until at least 5:00 PM.” At about half past three, the hopeful message came: “train traffic probably started around 8 p.m.”. At 7 p.m., however, it was clear: “no more train traffic”. Was it useful to mention those times, so that travelers didn’t get false hopes? The NS spokesperson: “It is still too early to evaluate. But those are decisions that we don’t take lightly.”
NS was also unable to say how many travelers were affected by the malfunction, because “we are in the start-up after corona” – there has been no ‘normal Sunday’ for two years. In any case, there were so many people that it was impossible to arrange replacement transport. Fifty passengers can fit in a bus. A thousand in an intercity.
Regional trains still ran, although regional carriers were also unable to inform their passengers of changes in their timetable, because they use the NS systems for this. “Fortunately, Arriva is driving according to schedule,” a spokesperson said by phone on Sunday afternoon. “But our buses are now overcrowded, so stops are being skipped.”
It is unclear how many people unintentionally spent the night outside their hometown. Stranded travelers with a ticket can request that money back through the delay scheme. That’s it. No hotel vouchers, coffee or stretchers. “It’s not nice to say, but we make a huge appeal to self-reliance,” says NS.
Sleeping places
This self-reliance was clearly visible on Twitter, where ride-alongs and sleeping places were soon requested and offered. This self-reliance was also evident at Amsterdam Central Station, where a tall blond woman walked in and laughed: „You don’t mean this, haha, you don’t mean this! Let’s go by car.”
Even more visible was the devastation of the many travelers shaking their heads, scrolling on their phones, looking for information that wasn’t there.
An information board alternately showed the following messages: “NS timetable almost back to normal. Plan your trip.” “Fault: No NS trains until the evening. Do not travel or look for other travel options.” “NS timetable is almost back to normal. Plan your trip.” Etcetera.
A version of this article also appeared in NRC on the morning of April 4, 2022