Strike in the Netherlands 28/5/2019

Due to a public transport strike in the Netherlands there will be no service tomorrow May 28th, 2019. The only service there will be is a 4 time an hour stopping service from Amsterdam Centraal to Schiphol and final destination Hoofddorp and v.v.. This was put on by a courtcase brought in front of a judge by the community of Haarlemmermeer and the airport of Schiphol.

It's important to note that this strike doesn't just affect the railways, it's about all public transport modalities. The operators don't really know what the turnout will be like, so that's why a "Do not even attempt to travel" advice has been given out by the railways.

Because of the strike, the road network is expected to be extremely busy as well and Rijkswaterstaat have advised motorists to postpone or cancel their journey if it's not absolutely necessary.

The timing of this strike is rather unfortunate for students: there's an exam period in the Netherlands and while some schools and universities have decided to postpone exams, others have indicated that it's up to students to make sure they attend.

The sunset is still present although some city and far away busses are running in Groningen.

I just went into my local station (Breda) and wandered around a little. Usually this station sees 35.000 train passengers per day and is used by as much bus passengers. Today, the place feels like a ghost town:



As you can see, the platforms and concourse are deserted. Most of the retail facilities are closed as well, even the ticket office had shut its doors.

Is this a one off strike in the Netherlands, or are any others planned during the next few months?

This is a one off, but if the government raises pension age even more than more can be expected. Government has promised to look into it. Few weeks ago the police also took action, but cancelled it after an attack on a tram in Utrecht where 3 people were killed. The very last major strike in public transport was apparently in 2004.

Today different sectors are on strike. There are also manifestations going on at the Malieveld in The Hague, a large piece of land which is often used for demonstrations, protests and manifestations. The public transport sector went on strike yesterday to facilitate today's strikes.

Re. the aftermath: yesterday NS warned that today's start of service could be a bit messy due to trains being out of place, but there haven't been much issues. The situation on the roads wasn't as bad as expected either: while it was busier than normal on a Tuesday, there were no major incidents. Many people seem to have taken a day off, worked from home, or travelled at different times.

As tomorrow is a national holiday there was is afternoon a trafficjam of over 1.000 kilometers. The effects of the strike was hardly worse than on normal days. Some rain did not help yesterday.