Trains did not run for several hours between Beilen and Assen due to copper theft on the track near Beilen.
As a result, signals did not work and a number of railway crossings no longer opened. The malfunction has now been resolved and the trains are running according to the timetable again.
“The level crossings close in the event of a malfunction for safety reasons,” says ProRail spokesperson Albert Baas. “That is to prevent accidents from happening. So it is not only annoying for train passengers, but also for people standing in front of the closed railway barriers.”
The number of copper thefts on the railways has fallen nationally, but in the North there has been an increase in December and the first weeks of this year, Baas said.
“In Friesland it was hit four times in December, and last week train traffic came to a standstill between Meppel and Steenwijk due to copper theft.”
According to Baas, “ProRail is on top of it”, he calls on people who see something suspicious along the track to call the police.