Disruption across the Netherlands due to "Sabotage"

Parts of the Netherlands, including Amsterdam, have been hit by major rail disruption after suspected sabotage to the tracks, the country's railway infrastructure operator has said.

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3h ago09.03 BST

Suspected sabotage disrupts Dutch trains​

Separately, Dutch authorities are investigating a major outage that affected parts of the country’s railway system, suspecting a possible sabotage after objects were placed on tracks.


The objects caused failures across the network, affecting several level crossings which ‌disrupted road traffic, Dutch rail infrastructure operator Pro Rail said in a statement.

It explained that as a result, “our computer system identifies a section of track as occupied, even though there is no train present.”

“Because safety always comes first, signals automatically turn red. As a result, trains must stop or slow down. Level crossings can also malfunction,” it said.

It did not comment on who could be behind the incident.

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In the latest update, the track operator Pro Rail has said that various pipes and other items were found at 30 locations across the country.
All trains in the vicinity of the track blockages were halted, while there were also serious disruptions elsewhere, including to international services ‌to Germany, Reuters reported.

In some cases, there were also cases of new blockages re-appearing in the same places after they were cleared, NOS reported.

The incident comes on Prinsjesdag, or the Prince’s Day, when King Willem-Alexander formally opens a new session of parliament and sets out the government’s plans for the 2027 budget.

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AMSTERDAM, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Dutch farmers started fires near highways on Tuesday, disrupting traffic as they protested against the government budget, while saboteurs also tied pipes to railway tracks ahead of the state opening of parliament.

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The fires were caused by angry farmers who had chosen government budget day to set hay bales and car tires alight, activist group Farmers Defence Force said.
"We feel like the country is on fire. Farmers feel as though their businesses are on fire because of the government's plans", spokesperson Sieta van Keimpema said.
Farmers Defence Force said it was not responsible for the railway sabotage, but added it could not rule out angry farmers had acted individually.
The Dutch intelligence agency AIVD said it was investigating the railway sabotage alongside police and prosecutors. They declined to comment on their investigations.

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Gag Halfrunt said:

The perpetrators would consider the risk of harm low. They place objects across the rails to short the track circuit and make the section show as occupied. They then assume that no train will enter the section. The aim is to disrupt rail traffic by forcing trains to stop .

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Shaw S Hunter said:

That's fine as long as train detection is by track circuits. It wouldn't work where axle counters are used.

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Shaw S Hunter said:

That's fine as long as train detection is by track circuits. It wouldn't work where axle counters are used.

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speedy1 said:

Is sabotaging railway tracks a new method for Dutch farmers? I get the impression they aren't tame, but sabotaging railway tracks seems like a radical escalation and departure from previous tactics?

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