Strike over but heat keeps train services cut until Friday

This morning’s public transport strikes went ahead in protest against government social security cuts, but stations were mostly deserted as travellers avoided extreme heat warnings.

Train operator NS is running a reduced timetable on several routes until at least Friday due to the code orange warnings issued by weather service KNMI.

Staff on trains, trams, metros and buses did not start work until 8am, meaning no early-morning services ran anywhere in the country. NS said it could not lay on replacement buses and warned that services might not return to normal until around midday.

The strike was initially called by trade union federations FNV and CNV in protest at plans to cut social security, including halving the maximum period of unemployment benefit from two years to one and reducing payments for people who are long-term sick.

Heat disruption all week
NS said double-decker trains in particular are prone to faults in hot weather, especially when carriages cannot cool down overnight, and has advised passengers to carry water. Reduced services are running on routes including the Den Haag–Amsterdam and Rotterdam–Utrecht lines.

The code orange warning applies to nine provinces from midday on Wednesday and is due to last until at least Friday, with temperatures forecast to reach 36° in the south and warm nights of well over 20° in the cities.

Only Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe are on the lower code yellow. It is only the sixth time the KNMI weather service has issued a code orange for heat.

Public health institute RIVM has also issued a smog warning for central and southern areas on Wednesday and Thursday, advising people with lung conditions, children and the elderly to stay indoors in the late afternoon and early evening.

Train cleaners are holding a separate all-day strike, so carriages that are running will not be cleaned until Thursday. Motoring organisation ANWB, which put extra patrols on the road for the heat rather than the strike, said it expected more breakdowns than usual, from flat batteries to overheated tyres.