Phantom train caused Amsterdam subway shutdown in early October

The major metro disruption that shut down Amsterdam’s metro network for hours in early October was caused by the security system registering a train that was not expected and not actually there, NH reports. Safety protocols then required the entire system to be shut down.

Metro lines 50, 51, 53, and 54 suddenly failed on the morning of Friday, October 2. The Noord/Zuidlijn was also temporarily halted. It took hours before the services resumed.

GVB investigators determined the false detection originated in the security system. It was caused by maintenance work in which a work instruction was not followed. The investigation is not yet complete, and the department responsible for the work is examining the matter.

In response, city council parties Pro and Denk asked responsible alderman Elise Moeskops to discuss the matter with the GVB. They also want to know whether the disruption was comparable to the outages in 2021 and 2022 that similarly linked to the then-new security system.