Major disruptions on Dutch railways exceed maximum limit for first time

This year has already seen 530 major disruptions on the Dutch railways. This means that ProRail will - for the first time - not meet the performance agreement it made with the Dutch government. 

530 major train disruptions in the Netherlands so far in 2025

In 2025 so far, 530 high-impact disruptions have already occurred on the Dutch railway network. That is 10 more than the 520 disruptions that are permitted by the agreement made between ProRail and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. It is the first time that this maximum allowable limit has been exceeded. 

According to figures seen by NU.nl, the number of major rail disruptions in the Netherlands has been rising for years: up from 455 in 2022, 474 in 2023, and 507 in 2024. ProRail writes that this increase is “the result of a complex interplay of factors”. 

Number of technical malfunctions on railways rising

There are four main reasons for disruptions, according to ProRail: third-party factors, which account for 42 percent of disruptions, process (10 percent), weather (4 percent) and technical (44 percent). The majority of third-party disruptions involve (near) collisions with people, primarily people attempting suicide, as well as collisions with road traffic and animals, and fire, vandalism and theft. 

However, the number of technical malfunctions has increased in recent years, and now accounts for the largest share of major train disruptions. ProRail pointed out that its technician workforce is shrinking at the same time as the workload is increasing, meaning technicians have longer response times to breakdowns and often have to travel from further away. 

ProRail promises solutions to reduce number of incidents

ProRail said that it would implement a number of measures to help reduce major disruptions, including expanding camera surveillance at so-called “high-risk locations” and adding more physical barriers to prevent people and animals from getting onto the tracks. It will also invest more in track condition data to enable more targeted maintenance. 

Although 2025 has seen a record number of major disruptions, ProRail does point out that in the first half of 2025, it exceeded its targets for the number of trains running on time and the number of available seats.