Major disruption around Rotterdam

[Bemined]

This morning a fire destroyed about 100 cables near Rotterdam Stadion including the cables needed to control the points and signals at this major junction which connects the main line with the freight and high speed lines.

The current estimation is that they need until Thursday 18:15 to repair the cables. All Eurostar trains between Amsterdam and London are cancelled between Amsterdam and Brussels, the Eurostar trains between Amsterdam and Paris are diverted via Utrecht and suffer from significant delays.

The freight line itself is still in operation, but freight trains from the port of Rotterdam heading north will have to be diverted the next days as well.

The incident was at a very vital point in the Dutch rail network as all lines converge on the one tunnel under the river here, the next river crossing being 50km upstream.

A few pictures are on the site of the infrastructure manager ProRail: https://www.prorail.nl/nieuws/geen-treinen-rond-rotterdam-stadion-door-stroomstoring

An inspection has revealed that at least 100 cables require repair. This means the cables must be sorted individually and then welded. While the work is not particularly complex, it is time-consuming. Four welders will work in two shifts—the maximum operational capacity possible on-site. The necessary equipment is also available.

Once the repair work is complete, the cables—each serving a different function—must be tested. This process also takes a considerable amount of time.
No trains

Nothing is yet known about the cause of the fire that resulted in the damage. In any case, the consequence is that no trains are running between Rotterdam and Barendrecht, between Rotterdam and Breda, or towards the Kijfhoek freight yard. This also applies to high-speed trains. We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to passengers, shippers, and transport operators.

 

[ClivePage]

My wife was on a (badly delayed) Eurostar from St Pancras to Brussels this morning - part of the delay was to make sure that passengers for Rotterdam and Amsterdam didn't get on this train as Eurostar claimed it was going no further than Brussels.

Shortly before getting there they announced on the train that it was actually going on to Amsterdam, but nobody knew whether Rotterdam was included.

So if you wanted to reach Amsterdam today then Eurostar would actively have prevented you from boarding a train which would have got you there. Such competent and helpful people, as usual.

 

[rvdborgt]

My wife was on a (badly delayed) Eurostar from St.Pancras to Brussels this morning - part of the delay was to make sure that passengers for Rotterdam and Amsterdam didn't get on this train as Eurostar claimed it was going no further than Brussels. Shortly before getting there they announced on the train that it was actually going on to Amsterdam, but nobody knew whether Rotterdam was included. So if you wanted to reach Amsterdam today then Eurostar would actively have prevented you from boarding a train which would have got you there.

I've heard indeed that people were denied boarding in London. I doubt they're allowed to do that. Rotterdam can be reached with one or more changes (depending on how far Eurostar ran).

But it seems Eurostar and NS don't want passengers to do that. NS admit that it's possible, but passengers would have to get a refund and book entirely new tickets, which I also doubt is legal.

 

[Gerald Fiennes]

Clearly it is not! The operators can attempt to reduce demand by asking passengers nicely to change their booked travel but, otherwise, must attempt to transport them.

 

[AdamWW]

My wife was on a (badly delayed) Eurostar from St.Pancras to Brussels this morning - part of the delay was to make sure that passengers for Rotterdam and Amsterdam didn't get on this train as Eurostar claimed it was going no further than Brussels. Shortly before getting there they announced on the train that it was actually going on to Amsterdam, but nobody knew whether Rotterdam was included. So if you wanted to reach Amsterdam today then Eurostar would actively have prevented you from boarding a train which would have got you there. Such competent and helpful people, as usual.

Wow!

So no option for passengers even to get as far as they can and then make their own arrangements?

 

[railpigeon]

I was on the 6:40 departure from Amsterdam yesterday. We left 25 mins late; lurked outside Rotterdam for about 20 minutes waiting for a platform; then sat in the station until 10am until the cancellation of the service was announced.

In all those hours there were perhaps four announcements at most.

Of course, when the doors were opened it was to alight from a sealed train onto British diplomatic waters (not the correct technical terms, but you know what I mean). The G4S officials and border officers were very efficient. Especially given that the passport control area at Rotterdam basically looks like it must be a cafe for the 23 hours and 50 minutes each day when it is not handling what I imagine is it’s usually quota of a few dozen Schengen-crossers.

But best source of help and info? The team in the platform-side Regus office.

The Eurostar re-booking process? Hopeless.

The answer for getting back today? It only occurred to me yesterday afternoon, after a day of badinage with work colleagues and with family about coastal evacuations in 1940 and the Protestant Wind in 1688:

SailRail to Harwich!

 

[Porty]

Currently in Rotterdam and on a day trip to Den Bosch via Utrecht. The Amsterdam - Paris Eurostar diverted via Utrecht is on the adjacent platform as I write this in Utrecht. Passengers from Rotterdam are being sent via this route. I assume the same is happening for London bound passengers? I have Eurostar booked for tomorrow afternoon from Brussels to London and it looks like the recommendation on NS is a convoluted route to Brussels (without a reservation fee) is via Utrecht - Den Bosch - Breda (3hrs 21min).

Yesterday nothing available Rotterdam to Dordrecht. Today replacement buses appear on the timetable. My accommodation immediately adjacent to Rotterdam Blaak station is a nuisance as there's no train service ( being on the Dordrecht line) and rail tickets aren't mutually acceptable on trams according to advice from station staff. In the UK this would be the most likely arrangement for rail ticket holders - so Britain gets something better than the Dutch!

 

[rvdborgt]

Currently in Rotterdam and on a day trip to Den Bosch via Utrecht. The Amsterdam - Paris Eurostar diverted via Utrecht is on the adjacent platform as I write this in Utrecht. Passengers from Rotterdam are being sent via this route. I assume the same is happening for London bound passengers?

Nope, they don't want you to travel, all Eurostars from/to London are cancelled north of Brussels.
NS officially repeats Eurostar's advice, but the staff seem to direct people to use non-Eurostar trains to Brussels and to get Eurostar there.

I have Eurostar booked for tomorrow afternoon from Brussels to London and it looks like the recommendation on NS is a convoluted route to Brussels (without a reservation fee) is via Utrecht - Den Bosch - Breda (3hrs 21min).

Exactly, this is probably the best alternative if you can't be rebooked onto a rerouted Eurostar Amsterdam/Utrecht-Brussels.

My accommodation immediately adjacent to Rotterdam Blaak station is a nuisance as there's no train service ( being on the Dordrecht line) and rail tickets aren't mutually acceptable on trams according to advice from station staff. In the UK this would be the most likely arrangement for rail ticket holders - so Britain gets something better than the Dutch!

Sometimes there's such an arrangement, but usually not if NS provide replacement buses. However, Rotterdam Blaak isn't served by replacement buses, then NS must offer something else.

 

[AdamWW]

Would I be right that Eurostar just saying "we’re unfortunately unable to offer alternative travel options" and NS saying that if you've got a ticket from Amsterdam to London tough luck you can't even make your own way to Brussels and use your ticket on the Eurostar from there are not particularly compatable with their legal obligations?

It would have never crossed my mind that in circumstances like this a railway would just choose to void my ticket entirely rather than allowing me to use it on the part of the service they are able to run.

 

[MisterT]

However, Rotterdam Blaak isn't served by replacement buses

Just a comment as info: Rotterdam Blaak is served by the replacement bus. The bus departs at the front of the station.

 

[rvdborgt]

Just a comment as info: Rotterdam Blaak is served by the replacement bus. The bus departs at the front of the station.

I see an "if" got lost in my text. I didn't want to claim Blaak isn't served by the replacement bus, I just didn't know.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 Jun 2026 ==

Would I be right that Eurostar just saying "we’re unfortunately unable to offer alternative travel options" and NS saying that if you've got a ticket from Amsterdam to London tough luck you can't even make your own way to Brussels and use your ticket on the Eurostar from there are not particularly compatable with their legal obligations?

AFAIK you're right.

 

[AdamWW]

I see an "if" got lost in my text. I didn't want to claim Blaak isn't served by the replacement bus, I just didn't know.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 Jun 2026 ==


AFAIK you're right.

Presumably they aren't too concerned about enforcement if they have put blatantly wrong information about passengers' rights directly on their web site for all to see.

 

[Bemined]

The repairs are taken even longer, they expect it will take until Saturday afternoon now.

 

[Porty]

Rotterdam Blaak station is a ghost town. No staff. As far as I can tell there's an express bus to Dordrecht from Central but no mention on the monitors of anything at Blaak. My Dutch isn't good enough to work out whether rail tickets are allowed on trams - the member of staff on Monday afternoon at the information office made that very plain. I'll walk the 25 mins. Lots of interesting things to see on the way and now the weather has turned and it's only low 20s, being outside is a pleasure.

By the sound of things I was glad I was too late to get an Interail reservation from Rotterdam and opted to get to Brussels by other means. Otherwise it sounds like my ticket would have been cancelled, even though there is a relatively straightforward (if roundabout) way of getting there. I guess that the vast majority of the traffic will be to/from Amsterdam and maybe NS couldn't cope with the volume if everyone got shunted on to the once an hour service via Antwerp.

 

[rvdborgt]

Cancelling a ticket (the contract of carriage) is illegal in such a case. They can only cancel a train, but the contract of carriage remains in place if the passenger still wants to travel.

 

[NCT]

So a majority government owned company and a wholly government owned company in cahoots to (most likely) break the law?

 

[Taunton]

Eurostar said in a statement: “We strongly advise that you postpone or cancel plans where possible. Exchanges can be made for free, and full refunds are available. We apologise for the inconvenience the situation has caused.”

You have to wonder what planet operators who put out such notices live on. Firstly, typically half the passengers with reservations for today are returning home, not going outwards, so just postponing or cancelling plans to travel is irrelevant. Secondly, for at least a generation now, all the rest of any journey arrangements, the hotel reservation, the entertainment tickets, etc, are quite non-refundable from the second you buy them. As for "refunds" on what you bought last month, if you really do ask for them, then decide later to travel next week, the price is double.

 

[Porty]

Rotterdam Central to Dordrecht is now rail replacement bus every 10 mins (journey time 30 mins). NS app and Interail app have the same information so it's good that Interail has been updated.

 

[kentrailman]

Birish airways asking for £700 for a single from Amsterdam to London over the last few days.

Was at St Pancras for the 1104 to Amsterdam on Monday. Appaling customer service. Diabolical. Silly me didnt check the status page in advance which would have shown me all the cancelled trains.

Train on the departure board for Amsterdam and it said boarding starts 10am. Crowds gathering from 0945.. The requested arrival time on tickets.. Security people yelling at everyone "leave the station, wait outside and come back at 10 when we will open the queue, you are blocking the concourse, you must leave and come back in ten minutes“. Everyone pretends to leave, no,no we dont want the train we are just waiting for someone.... Then, at 10am tannoy announcement. Wè are sorry train is only going to Brussels. Amsterdam passengers please go online and rebook for another day. Thats it. No help. No nothing. Nothing telling you that by rebooking you forfiet the chance of a refund... Let alone the lack of compensation.

By amazing luck I got two of the remaining five seats on ain easyjet flight to amsterdam from Luton at 4pm for two people for about £320. Jumped on thameslink. Eurostar ticket was £270 for two which I have got refunded having read that unlike airlines they won't pay to get you there using other means. Next time will fly, not risking this again and being stranded with no compensation.

 

[DanielB]

In the mean time the cause of the cable fire was also found: a power cable, feeding the OHLE with electricity, was kinked causing it to short circuit and catch fire.

 

[Paul AC]

In the mean time the cause of the cable fire was also found: a power cable, feeding the OHLE with electricity, was kinked causing it to short circuit and catch fire.

Logical. Power cables, and other complex construction cables such as ethernet cables, have a specified minimum bend radius. A standard 25 kV rated power cable may have a specified minimum bend radius of 1 metre, a bit less if the cable is constrained properly and can't move.

 

[AdamWW]

In the mean time the cause of the cable fire was also found: a power cable, feeding the OHLE with electricity, was kinked causing it to short circuit and catch fire.

As someone completely ignorant in such matters, I'm surprised that it could draw enough current to start a fire without the power automatically being cut off in time.

 

[AndrewE]

In the mean time the cause of the cable fire was also found: a power cable, feeding the OHLE with electricity, was kinked causing it to short circuit and catch fire.

I am a bit surprised that it was sharing a duct with the S&T telecomms. If an OLE supply cable goes pop it will obviously take out everything near it, so I would have thought that a paired duct (like a capital "E" on its back) would have been routine.

 

[STINT47]

Eurostar will sell me a ticket on the direct train to Amsterdam for Friday morning but NS says no services on the High speed line till Sunday.

Are the servic3s likely to br cancelled? If so it's bad for Eurostar to be selling tickets for a train that will not run less than 24 hours before departure.

 

[Bemined]

On Friday there are fewer trains running, so perhaps more Eurostar trains get diverted via Utrecht.

 

[rvdborgt]

On Friday there are fewer trains running, so perhaps more Eurostar trains get diverted via Utrecht.

I thought I had read somewhere that blue Eurostars can't (yet?) use the route via Utrecht. Or is that not correct?

 

[Wandering Pom]

As someone completely ignorant in such matters, I'm surprised that it could draw enough current to start a fire without the power automatically being cut off in time.

NS electrification is at 1.5kV DC, so the currents required for normal operation are much higher than those at 25kV. A fault current of this sort probably isn't detectable amidst trains drawing power, especially if it's in a busy area like Rotterdam.

 

[DanielB]

I thought I had read somewhere that blue Eurostars can't (yet?) use the route via Utrecht. Or is that not correct?

Why wouldn't they be able to? I've seen reports of a blue Eurostar running a service to Paris via Utrecht so it's nothing technical preventing it.

And now they're filling full trains in Amsterdam the previously existing issue of the secured half being at the wrong end in Brussels no longer exists. (Watergraafsmeer > Amsterdam C. > Utrecht requires reversing in Amsterdam)

 

[railpigeon]

I was on the 6:40 departure from Amsterdam yesterday. We left 25 mins late; lurked outside Rotterdam for about 20 minutes waiting for a platform; then sat in the station until 10am until the cancellation of the service was announced.

In all those hours there were perhaps four announcements at most.

Of course, when the doors were opened it was to alight from a sealed train onto British diplomatic waters (not the correct technical terms, but you know what I mean). The G4S officials and border officers were very efficient. Especially given that the passport control area at Rotterdam basically looks like it must be a cafe for the 23 hours and 50 minutes each day when it is not handling what I imagine is it’s usually quota of a few dozen Schengen-crossers.

But best source of help and info? The team in the platform-side Regus office.

The Eurostar re-booking process? Hopeless.

The answer for getting back today? It only occurred to me yesterday afternoon, after a day of badinage with work colleagues and with family about coastal evacuations in 1940 and the Protestant Wind in 1688:

SailRail to Harwich!

I paid £194 for the Amsterdam to London 6:40 service on Monday but only reached Rotterdam before the service was cancelled. I had paid £138.50 for a for the Amsterdam to London leg for standard ticket when I first booked. Then, a fortnight before traveling, paid another £55.50 to amend the date and enhance the class of travel.

Why would Eurostar be offering me a refund if only £140?

I have asked them, but have had no reply.

If the train had been ‘just delayed’ I would have received a healthy fraction of the ticket cost back. But because it was cancelled I was clobbered with extra accommodation, subsistence, Dutch rail and Stena Hook-Holland costs. I have insurance, but have not yet started that claim or looked at the excess on it. Should Eurostar be coughing up?

 

[Taunton]

I paid £194 for the Amsterdam to London 6:40 service ... Why would Eurostar be offering me a refund if only £140?

Because a good proportion of passengers won't do the detailed reconciliation like this. Just the same as TOCs automatically rejecting valid delay payments and making people have to appeal - many don't, just accepting what they are told.