The Netherlands woke to transport chaos Tuesday after suspected coordinated sabotage crippled major railway routes, exposing just how easily critical infrastructure can be thrown into disarray while Dutch and European leaders increasingly focus their attention on threats from abroad.
According to reports from the Dutch media, objects deliberately fastened to railway tracks triggered safety systems across central and northern Netherlands, bringing trains to a standstill and leaving commuters stranded. ProRail, which manages the country’s rail infrastructure, said the evidence left little doubt that somebody had intentionally interfered with the network.
Workers began discovering sections of pipe attached to rails at around 5:30 a.m. Reports initially identified roughly 20 affected locations, while later accounts said security systems had been disrupted at more than 30 points.
The method wasn’t particularly sophisticated, but the consequences were enormous. By fooling track circuits into detecting trains where none existed, the objects automatically turned signals red and shut affected sections of railway.
Near Steenwijk, the situation became more dangerous when a train actually struck one of the pipes. Nobody was injured, according to ProRail, but deliberately putting material onto active railway lines clearly carried risks extending far beyond delayed commuters.
“We have been to these places and carried out investigations and found materials that were intentionally put there,” ProRail spokeswoman Joke van der Cruysen told NOS. “So we can say the railway has been sabotaged.”
Hellbound and Down 