Everywhere Prorail goes to inspect, they find trees on the track. Such as between Middelburg and Vlissingen, where a tree has disrupted the entire catenary portal. Yet it appears once again that trains are vulnerable means of transport and you can ask yourself why trees should be placed next to tracks that increase the vulnerability to natural disasters.
Nevertheless, travelers have a better understanding of the way in which NS and Prorail communicated on the day before the storm. The announcement that the timetable would end in the afternoon has saved many travelers from train cancellations. In the meantime, the enormous damage that Eunice has caused has become clear and the contractors can carry out repair work. As far as Prorail is concerned, the safety of the employees comes first.
mega job
The storm has now reached such a level in most of the Netherlands that it can be observed throughout the country and the repair work can be started safely. In the north of the Netherlands, inspections also started at 03.00:XNUMX am, and the reports of damage there are also undiminished. Most reports are still about trees on the track, but we also often see that plastic has gotten into the overhead wires. To repair this, the voltage must first be removed from the overhead line before our technicians can remove it.
The damage on most of the track is still extensive. Contractors are working hard on the recovery. Prorail employees did a lot of inspection last night in response to the valuable reports that were made via the government emergency services and public information. The teams sawed trees at Breda, Europoort and Leiden, among others. One of the colleagues from ProRail Incident Control: “I am super proud of my team. We were eager to get started. We are doing a real team effort."
On some lines, recovery is progressing quickly and trains can start running again cautiously. Check a travel planner for current travel advice.
Also read: Eunice shuts down NS and Prorail rail network due to storm
