ProRail, a government organisation that takes care of maintenance and extensions of the national railway network infrastructure, has announced that travellers can expect delays this summer due to planned maintenance work.
Approximately, 7.000 ProRail employees and contractors will carry out maintenance in 40 different locations.
80 percent of the work will take place at night after the last trains have arrived and before the morning rush, however, these will only involve small repairs and normal maintenance procedures.
Other tasks will take between 50 to 60 more days, which will take place at the weekends and during the summer holidays.
In some cases, they will also put down new roofing at stations and shelters to give them a fresh new look. They may also change the signal lights to renewable LED lighting.
In 2017, ProRail will be doing 20 percent more work than usual due to the increase in numbers using the services which has led to more wear and tear of the tracks and electrical lines.
"Travellers will experience a lot of inconvenience, but unfortunately that can't be helped," ProRail CEO Pier Eringa claimed.
Whilst some of the work may be complete within a few days, others will take weeks. ProRail warns:
› the Moerdijk bridge will be closed for three weeks (July 25 - August 11)
› work around Utrecht Central will take place July 8 - 17
› work in Gouda will happen between July 8 - 31
› maintenance of the tracks in Eindhoven will take place between August 5 - 14
› and work on the electrical line between Zwolle and Kampen will continue until the end of August
For a detailed map of where the work will take place, check this ProRail map.