Expatica news

Delays continue after train crash

22 May 2004

AMSTERDAM — Train travel on the western side of Amsterdam restarted on Saturday morning following the serious train crash at the Dutch capital’s central station on Friday.

But rail network administrator ProRail said it is unclear when full train services to and from Amsterdam will resume. The wreckage of the two trains that collided on the eastern side of Amsterdam Central will take most of Saturday to be removed and the work might extend into Sunday, it said.

Once the track is cleared, an inspection will be carried out to assess the damage and estimate how long repairs to the line will take, ProRail said.

Dutch Rail NS said services on the eastern side of the station to and from Utrecht and Amersfoort will not run until late on Saturday at the earliest. Passengers travelling in that direction will have to use the tram or metro to get to and from Amsterdam’s Muiderpoort Station.

There is no direct metro link to Muiderpoort. The nearest metro station is Wibautstraat, with a 15-minute walk to Muiderpoort. Weesperplein and Amstelstation metro stations are further. Trams 3, 7 and 14 stop at Muiderpoort.

Services on the western side of the station to Schiphol Airport, Haarlem and Zaandam started running again from 9am on Saturday. 

Passengers are warned to expect delays of about 30 minutes, news agency Novum said.

[Copyright Expatica News 2004]

Subject: Dutch news + Amsterdam train crash