New sabotage on Dutch railway: Pipe removed from tracks near Teuge
A pipe was found on the railway line between Apeldoorn and Deventer on Tuesday evening. ProRail believes this to be a new act of sabotage, likely carried out during the evening. There is not a lot of camera footage of the acts of sabotage on the railway from Tuesday morning, ProRail CEO Mirjam van Velthuizen told Nieuwsuur.
The pipe found on Tuesday evening was discovered near Teuge. Train services between Deventer and Apeldoorn were temporarily halted from 9:30 p.m. The initial reported reason was a signal failure. Police and the rail operator’s incident response team went to the scene immediately, a ProRail spokesperson said.
Earlier, late Tuesday afternoon, a metal bar was also removed from the track between Holten and Rijssen. Foul play is suspected there as well, though it is possible that the bar had been lying there all day and only caused problems later.
On Tuesday morning, acts of sabotage severely disrupted train services in several provinces. Pipes and cables had been placed on the tracks at more than 35 locations, disrupting the system that indicates whether a track is occupied.
There is very little camera footage of the sabotage, but what there is has been handed over to the police, ProRail CEO Van Velthuizen told Nieuwsuur. “There is some camera footage, but unfortunately very little from the specific locations where the incidents occurred.” It is unclear whether the perpetrators appear on the footage. She also does not know who is behind the sabotage.
According to Van Velthuizen, the railway network will be monitored more closely in the coming period using additional cameras and increased surveillance. But she added that it is difficult to monitor the entire railway network.
State Secretary Annet Bertram of Infrastructure and Water Management called the sabotage “unacceptable” in a letter to Parliament, saying that these actions “grossly” crossed the line. “Given the significant disruption experienced by travelers and transport operators, and the danger posed by these actions, I condemn them in the strongest terms.”
According to the CDA State Secretary, “the effective functioning of the train safety systems” limited the damage and risks. Bertram thanked the ProRail employees and contractors who worked to remove the materials from the tracks, allowing train services to resume.