After a weekend of standstill in the Willemsspoortunnel in Rotterdam, train traffic restarted on Monday. The disruption, which had been causing problems since Friday evening, was resolved earlier than expected.
Train traffic through the railway tunnel in Rotterdam has restarted since 12:00 PM. The local trains between Rotterdam and Dordrecht were the first to run again. According to an NS spokesperson, restarting the train traffic is “quite a logistical operation”.
The NS expected the disruption to last until 2:00 AM on Tuesday, but the problem has been resolved earlier. The disruption in the tunnel began on Friday evening after a major power outage in the south of Rotterdam.
On Sunday, there was power again in the tunnel, but ProRail still had to test all safety systems before the trains could run again. This included gas and fire detectors, lighting of escape routes, and communication systems.
The disruption also caused problems for international train traffic. Trains to London and Brussels had to be diverted or departed from a different station.