Rail services disruption after snow: Netherlands and Germany recover

Rail services disruption after snow is easing in the Netherlands and northern Germany, but operators still describe the networks as fragile.

This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

With reduced capacity, route-specific suspensions and ongoing infrastructure checks still in play, the return to normal timetables is taking place step by step, as outlined by RailTech.

In the Netherlands, ProRail says trains have been running “according to plan” since early Monday morning under an adjusted winter timetable. The infrastructure manager says this setup mirrors the schedule that would have applied without winter weather, while noting that in some areas additional peak-hour trains are not running.

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The recovery remains patchy. Local services between Arnhem and Doetinchem are still operating less often, and rolling stock shortages continue to affect Sprinter services around Amersfoort. A separate signal failure has also meant delays and fewer trains between Amersfoort Centraal and Ede-Wageningen. International links are not fully restored either: NS said no trains were running between Maastricht and Liège on Monday morning due to “equipment limitations”, reflected in NS travel information.

Why Dutch operations remain constrained?

Beyond day-to-day service planning, ProRail is working through a sizeable post-winter recovery task linked to the emergency winter timetable. Roughly half of the Netherlands’ centrally operated switches were taken out of use during the cold snap to improve reliability. Those assets must now be inspected before they can return to service — something ProRail describes as “a huge task” across more than 7,000 km of track.

The thaw brings new risks of its own. ProRail has warned of flooding along tracks, condensation in electrical systems, and salt contamination at level crossings, any of which can trigger fresh faults even as temperatures rise. It has also directed passengers to journey planners in a ProRail winter service update. Rust on tracks and on switches that have not been used for several days is another factor slowing the return to full capacity.

Northern Germany: main lines open, reduced service

In northern Germany, Deutsche Bahn says the long-distance network has improved more clearly, with all major main lines now operational again. DB CEO Evelyn Palla said trains are running again and major lines are clear, while adding that the operator is running at about two-thirds of its long-distance service level in the region.

Key corridors such as Hamburg–Berlin, Hamburg–Hanover–southern Germany, and Hamburg–North Rhine-Westphalia–Frankfurt have reopened. Even so, services are still being operated on a reduced timetable, with cancellations and short-turns possible.

Routes still affected and freight restart

Some prominent routes remain cut off despite the broader progress. Long-distance services to Westerland on Sylt and to Rostock/Binz are still suspended because of snowdrifts and frozen track sections. At regional level, parts of Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony continue to face closures and reduced frequencies, while Hamburg’s S-Bahn has largely restarted but is not yet back to normal across all lines.

Private operator Metronom has resumed services on routes including Hamburg–Uelzen and Hamburg–Bremen, although inspection runs are still under way on parts of the network in southern Lower Saxony. Cross-border passenger services toward Denmark and the Netherlands are also coming back in stages, but remain below normal frequency.

DB InfraGO says the scale of the winter event continues to shape the pace of recovery. Around 3,000 km of track in northern Germany were affected by heavy snow, drifting and prolonged frost, and the situation has been highly dynamic, with snowdrifts and icy switches repeatedly creating new challenges.

Clearing work is still continuing on branch lines, with snowploughs and specialist vehicles reopening secondary routes and yards. Re-freezing has also complicated the process, at times undoing earlier progress.

Rail freight services are restarting gradually too, particularly around the port of Rotterdam and northern German logistics hubs, where snowfall disrupted stabling yards and terminal operations. ProRail and Deutsche Bahn say the restart is being coordinated closely with freight operators to manage delayed cargo and infrastructure availability.

Both ProRail and Deutsche Bahn warn that further disruption remains possible as winter conditions persist and additional snowfall is forecast in parts of northern Europe. Passengers are advised to check digital journey planners and expect reduced resilience, especially during peak periods.

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