Two men arrested on a train heading from Emmen to Zwolle on Sunday were picked up after a passenger overheard a man talking about possible explosives on a train, police said on Sunday night.

In total, five people were arrested in three unrelated incidents at the station on Sunday afternoon, but police has so far declined to comment about train arrests.

The Arriva train was halted outside Zwolle station and boarded by heavily armed police following a tip-off from a passenger who had overheard talk about possible explosives at Emmen station.

The passengers were then ordered to leave one by one, with some claiming they had been made to put their hands on their heads.

Two men were arrested and led away in blindfolds. A search of the station and the train itself turned up nothing suspicious.

The two men have since been released but police say they are still investigating the incident and are appealing for people who were on Emmen railway station’s main platform between 1pm and 1.15pm on Sunday to come forward.

Smoking

Two other men arrested in Zwolle station on Sunday afternoon had locked themselves in a toilet on a different train and were smoking, police said. They have been given a reprimand and released.

The fifth person was arrested after reports of a man with an axe in the centre of Zwolle. He was later picked up at the station, but is not thought to have threatened anyone.