Suspected sabotage brings parts of Dutch rail network to standstill

Dutch police are investigating suspected sabotage after large parts of the country’s rail network were brought to a standstill on Tuesday morning, September 15, disrupting services and causing widespread delays and cancellations across central and northern Netherlands.

Rail infrastructure operator ProRail said materials had been deliberately placed at several points along the tracks, causing failures in railway sections.

“Materials were found in several places along tracks that were deliberately placed there. This is causing section failures. It seems to be sabotage,” ProRail said in a statement, cited by POLITICO.

A ProRail spokesperson said pipes had been attached to railway tracks and unauthorised materials had been discovered at at least 20 locations. The interference resulted in multiple signal failures across the network.

The perpetrators have not been identified, and the national police are leading the investigation. ProRail said its immediate priority was to restore rail services while preserving evidence as far as possible.

Annet Bertram, the secretary of state for infrastructure and water management, described the suspected sabotage as “particularly worrying.”

“it is now important that this is investigated very carefully,” she said.

The disruption occurred on Prinsjesdag, the annual day marking the opening of the Dutch parliamentary year, when the government presents its budget plans for the year ahead.

Dutch media reports have suggested that activist farmers could be responsible. Farmers in the Netherlands have previously used similar tactics during protests against the government’s nitrogen policy, and the disruptions may have been timed to coincide with Prinsjesdag.

The Farmers Defense Force, a farmers’ protest and advocacy group, has denied involvement in the suspected sabotage, although it has not ruled out the possibility that farmers were responsible for the disruptions.

The incident is not the first major disruption of the Dutch rail network to occur on the day of a significant national or international event. During last year’s NATO summit in The Hague, trains around Schiphol Airport were severely delayed following a fire. No arrests have been made in connection with that incident.

The latest disruption comes as European countries remain on heightened alert over concerns about an increase in hybrid attacks across the continent.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said last month that Europe was facing “an escalating campaign of threats” that were “seeking to divide our Union.”

By Tamilla Hasanova