Rotterdam trains resume after eight days of cable repairs

Trains are running again between Rotterdam and the south of the country after a cable fire halted services for just over a week.

Rail infrastructure company ProRail restarted services at around 5am on Tuesday, restoring connections between Rotterdam and Dordrecht, Breda, Zeeland and Brabant.

The fire broke out on June 29 in a trough containing around 300 cables alongside the track at Rotterdam Stadion station, destroying around 200 of them. ProRail said the blaze was caused by a short circuit.

The company initially expected to fix the problem the same day, but pushed back the reopening five times as the repairs proved far more complex than anticipated.

The fire burned the labels off many of the cables, making it difficult to establish which should be connected to which, and every repaired cable had to be tested individually before trains could run safely.

Engineers worked through Monday night to fix an electrical fault in the Willemsspoortunnel and to reinforce a stretch of track near Rotterdam Stadion that had been weakened by digging work. The rails themselves also had to be cleared of rust that built up during the closure.

The disruption hit international services as well, with Eurostar cancelling its London trains in the days after the fire and later diverting services via Utrecht. The operator said on Monday it did not expect a full return to normal before Tuesday.