ProRail came up with an emergency solution: almost all trains are running again around Amsterdam. inland

The IT glitch in ProRail has brought transport to a standstill since Sunday afternoon. Hundreds of passengers were stranded in Amsterdam last night. They had to spend the night on cots in Ziggo Domes or in open trains at stations. There were also big problems this morning, as not a single train ran from Amsterdam during the morning rush hour.

The fault is due to a problem in one of ProRail’s twelve network stations. It is still not resolved, but the railway manager has come up with an emergency solution. There is a back-up station in Utrecht, from where staff manage train traffic around Utrecht from 09:00. That’s the first time. According to a ProRail spokesperson, training has been carried out with this emergency network, but this is the first time that it has been put into practice. “We believe it works and passengers will not notice it. But we will determine that experimentally.”

In the meantime, ProRail will continue to investigate the cause. Not considered a hack, but where the network failure comes from is still unclear. In any event, Viviane Heijnen, the Secretary of State for Infrastructure, ‘demands a thorough explanation from NS and ProRail as to how this could have happened’.

The NS asked passengers not to come to the stations, but there were still many people in Amsterdam Centraal on Monday morning. There is a long queue of people with suitcases in the morning in front of the service desk for international traffic. No international train was also running due to the fault. There is no chaos. NS staff talk to passengers here and there. It is announced that free coffee and tea can be obtained at the kiosk.

Passengers were inconvenienced due to the fault which started on Sunday afternoon. For some time the problem seemed to be resolved, but after resumption after 8 pm, all trains were canceled again an hour later. There was no immediate traffic at nearby stations such as Schiphol.

Several hundred music fans are stranded at the Arena after a Harry Styles concert. Camp beds were set up in the adjacent Zigo Dome, where 150 people spent the night, according to concert organizer Mojo. Around 100 passengers boarded the trains at various stations in the capital. An NS spokesman said, “It got a bit chilly, so we opened the train doors so people could at least sit warm.”

Although they barely slept, it was comfortable in the Ziggo Dome, says Alamelo’s Kiki Cuirtart, who has wrapped a gold-colored emergency blanket around her. He delivered it to the concert hall, as well as a sleeping bag, crisps and a drink. Both look back on a ‘fantastic concert’. “Thousands of people went before to try to catch another train,” says Hilke. ,,but they missed a whole part of the concert and still their train. We saw everything,” said her daughter.

According to the spokesperson, anyone who has had to arrange alternate transportation or spend the night somewhere should contact customer care.

Thousands of train commuters faced disruption, elsewhere in the country as well. The outage also halted traffic at Utrecht Central Station. A night shelter was arranged at nearby Jarbeur for about a hundred train passengers who were stranded at that station during the night due to train failure. Trains around Utrecht Centraal will be running again on Monday morning.

A ProRail spokeswoman stressed that she was concerned about the inconvenience to passengers, particularly those who had come to pop star Harry Styles’ concert at the Johan Cruz Arena and who arrived too late or on time for the concert. But could not come. Home.

Concert organizer Mojo reported that the British singer’s concert started fifteen minutes later at 9:15 pm due to a glitch. Hundreds of fans had already gathered at the Arena on Sunday afternoon, but many still had to get there. Those who ultimately didn’t get to attend the concert can still go on Monday or Tuesday. A spokeswoman for concert organizer Mojo says it will work with affected fans to find a solution. It’s unclear how many fans are involved, but Mojo says there weren’t as many people showing up as usual.

Gerben van Dijk from Rotterdam jumped in a taxi to go to the concert with her daughter. “At the place of employment we met another father and daughter. That way we could share the cost. It got more expensive per minute. 140 Euros for the ride to the Arena”, he said. “There was some tension when trains were canceled one after the other. Now we also have time to eat something. Everyone is happy!” And on the way back they were lucky too. “Thanks to a digital sign ‘Rotterdam’ on my daughter’s mobile phone at the exit of the parking garage, we quickly had a lift to Rotterdam. From the very nice people at Hendrik Idau Ambacht.”

Aneek and her friend also reached the concert. “When we were able to ride with the two lovely girls, their father came to pick them up.”