Sabotage Suspected After Pipes Found on Dutch Rail Tracks Across 20+ Locations on Budget Day

A coordinated act of suspected sabotage brought large parts of the Dutch rail network to a standstill during Tuesday's morning commute, according to ProRail, the company that manages the Netherlands' railway infrastructure.

ProRail spokesperson Joke van der Cruysen told the Associated Press that objects had been deliberately placed on tracks at 24 separate locations. "Material has been found at several locations. It appears that this material was deliberately placed on the tracks. We suspect sabotage," she said, adding that police were "actively investigating the cause and the reasons behind this."

Dutch public broadcaster NOS aired footage of police carrying metal pipes, roughly 1.5 meters long, away from tracks near Veenendaal, according to the BBC. Euronews reported the disruption began around 5:30 a.m. CET and hit the Amersfoort-Zwolle, Utrecht-Arnhem, Arnhem-Zutphen and Zwolle-Leeuwarden lines hardest, with the Times of India adding that incidents were also reported along the Gouda-Oudewater route.

The placed objects disrupted sensors monitoring train locations, forcing signals to read affected sections as occupied and turning them red, whether or not a train was actually present. Ground News, citing an NOS spokesman, reported that this triggered automatic shutdowns across the network.

One train near Steenwijk in Overijssel province struck one of the objects. ProRail confirmed no injuries resulted. National operator NS said services around Zwolle, Deventer and Amersfoort were hit hardest during rush hour, and the disruption was severe enough that NS said it could not muster enough replacement buses for stranded passengers, according to the BBC.

Timing collides with Budget Day

The sabotage landed on Prinsjesdag, the Netherlands' annual Budget Day, when King Willem-Alexander traditionally rides through The Hague in a horse-drawn carriage as the government presents its legislative program to parliament. Thousands gather for the procession every year, and Ground News reported thousands traveled to The Hague for it Tuesday even as the rail system buckled around them.

Euronews reported that Dutch authorities have not said whether the timing was intentional or coincidental. State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management Annet Bertram said she was "deeply concerned" and called for a thorough investigation, which the National Police are now leading.

Police spokeswoman Marloes Wesselink confirmed an investigation was underway but declined to give further details, telling the Associated Press she wasn't aware of any claim of responsibility. As of Tuesday, no group has claimed the attack, and ProRail says it does not know who was behind it or why.

A contested claim about Russia

The Times of India's coverage included a claim from Ukraine's Centre for Strategic Communication and Information Security (CSCIS), a Ukrainian government body that monitors and counters disinformation, describing the incident as "another suspected act of Russian terrorism in the European Union." Dutch authorities have not publicly attributed the railway disruption to Russia or any other actor, and no evidence tying the sabotage to a specific perpetrator has been presented in any of the reporting on this incident. CSCIS's job is specifically to track and flag suspected Russian information operations and sabotage across Europe.

A second, separate rail incident in France

The BBC noted the Dutch disruption comes days after French prosecutors said a section of rail found on the tracks may have caused a train derailment in Normandy the previous Friday, an incident French media has also speculated could involve sabotage. France's interior minister, Laurent Nunez, urged caution while that investigation continues, saying authorities are "pursuing all leads." No link between the French derailment and the Dutch rail sabotage has been established or alleged by any official source.

Ground News reported that trains running through Utrecht and Zwolle, including routes to Schiphol Airport, were expected to resume by 10 a.m. Tuesday, though NS advised travelers to keep checking its app since full normalization timing remained unclear. The National Police investigation into who placed the pipes and why is ongoing with no timeline for when, or whether, a suspect will be identified.