Suspected sabotage disrupts Dutch train services

Thousands of rail passengers have faced delays and cancellations after suspected saboteurs disrupted train services in the Netherlands during Tuesday morning's rush hour. Pipes were attached to rails at 24 locations across central and ‌northern Netherlands, the rail operator ProRail said, before updating the total to 30 disruptions "due to material on the tracks".It said it was "still working" to clear them.Mirjam van Velthuizen, interim CEO of ProRail said "many travellers" had been affected, adding that "for everyone who was stranded, experienced delays, or had to adjust plans, this is extremely impactful."In an earlier statement, the firm said "materials deliberately placed on the tracks have been found at several locations.

This is causing track-circuit failures. It appears to be a case of sabotage".Joke van der Cruysen, spokesperson for the company, added: "It appears that this material was deliberately placed on the tracks."The police are currently involved and are actively investigating the cause and the reasons behind this."There was no immediate indication of who was suspected of being behind it.Police spokeswoman Marloes Wesselink confirmed that an investigation was underway, but declined to give further details.

She said that she wasn't aware of any claim of responsibility.National railway company NS said that train services around the central cities of Zwolle, Deventer and Amersfoort were hit hard around the morning rush hour, telling passengers "it is not yet clear how long it will take for train services to return to normal."Footage of long, thin pipes being removed from the tracks was shown by Dutch broadcaster NOS.

At Steenwijk, near the country's northwest coast, "a train struck the rolling stock, but this had no consequences for the train", according to ProRail.The disruption had "major consequences for train traffic in the central and northern Netherlands," it said, warning travellers "should expect delays, cancelled trains, and extra travel time.There were no reports of any injuries.Road traffic suffered a knock-on effect as several ​level crossings were closed, ProRail said.Read more:Two dead after collisionUK city's face mask ban It was unable ⁠to say when ​services might return to ​normal and advised passengers to get up-to-date travel information before departure.In an update posted at 11.36am, local time, NOS said parts of the track had reopened, but warned "no trains are running yet on the Zwolle-Amersfoort, Amersfoort-Deventer, and Deventer-Almelo routes.

It is unclear how long this will last".Material has been found on the tracks in at least eight locations, NOS said.It added that there is footage of "pipes being removed near Veenendaal and Olst".