Fire that damaged cables under railway bridge is suspected arson

Police are investigating a fire under a railway bridge in Rotterdam that led to trains being cancelled over the weekend as a suspected act of sabotage.

The door to a technical area in Rotterdam-Delfshaven was forced open and a fire was started that damaged around 35 cables, 15 of which were destroyed, network operator ProRail said.

All trains between Rotterdam Centraal and Delft Campus were suspended until 9.15pm on Sunday as engineers worked to repair the damage.

The stretch of line is one of the busiest in the Netherlands, carrying long-distance trains from Amsterdam to Zeeland and Limburg via Holland Spoor station.

A police spokesman told Dutch News: “We have secured camera footage and we are examining it. Forensic investigators are also studying possible leads.”

Junior infrastructure minister Annet Bertram said she was shocked by the incident. “I find it appalling and worrying that this appears to be arson and a deliberate act,” she told NOS.

Schiphol disruption

In a separate incident, trains to Schiphol airport were disrupted for several hours by problems with an overhead power line, but ProRail has ruled out arson as a cause.

More than 20 sprinter trains between Amsterdam and Hoofddorp were cancelled between 1.30pm and 9pm as engineers worked to repair the fault at Riekerpolder. “It is an intersection, which means trains are not running in a large area,” a spokesman said on Sunday.

International services were also affected, with trains to Brussels starting and ending in Rotterdam.