The rail crane involved in the accident involving two trains at Voorschoten station in the night from Monday to Tuesday is said to have arrived on or near the track too early, despite an earlier agreement. This is stated in the first account of facts that ProRail shared with “relevant” parties on Friday and is in the hands of the ANP news agency. The crane was already on the track when train traffic was still running.
At around 4:30 a.m., the contractor of the crane asked the ProRail train controller whether train traffic could be briefly halted so that the crane could cross. He would have replied “that this will be possible in 10 minutes”. According to ProRail, for unclear reasons, the crane then ended up near or on the tracks of the freight train within that time frame, which then collided with the crane.
One person died in the accident in Voorschoten, an employee of construction company BAM who was working in the crane. Three people were taken to intensive care. Due to the accident, the track between Leiden and The Hague was blocked until at least April 18.