Railways in the Netherlands suffered massive disruption on Tuesday when pipes, cables and other materials were placed on dozens of tracks, halting trains and upending the commutes of hundreds of thousands of passengers.
asserted
pipes → suffer → passengers
While no one has been blamed for the suspected sabotage, the incident coincides with mass protests by farmers angered by government environmental policies, and took place amid reports in local media that farmers had discussed taking direct action against the railways.
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farmers → blame → railways
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The Tuesday, September 15 incident is being investigated by police.
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incident → kill → police
So what happened, why are farmers under suspicion, and why would anyone target a railway?
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anyone → happen → railway
What happened on the Dutch railways?
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What → happen → railways
Trains in the Netherlands came to a standstill on Tuesday morning, causing delays and cancellations for passengers across central and northern parts of the country.
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Trains → come → country
It emerged that items on the tracks had caused trains to be halted.
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trains → emerge → tracks
“Materials were found in several places along tracks that were deliberately placed there.
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that → find → tracks
This is causing section failures.
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This → cause → failures
It seems to be sabotage,” ProRail, the country’s rail infrastructure operator, said in a statement.
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ProRail → seem → statement
ProRail’s interim CEO Mirjam van Velthuizen said the incident demonstrated how dependent the Netherlands is on its railways and called for greater investment in contingency planning.
“In a world where uncertainties are increasing, we must ensure that the railway can absorb disruptions, that the impact remains limited as much as possible, and that we can recover as quickly as possible,” she said.
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she → say → disruptions
ProRail said there were no injuries reported.
“Placing materials on the tracks is extremely dangerous and unacceptable, and fortunately, it did not lead to any accidents today,” it said.
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it → say → accidents
Sabotage is suspected by the Dutch police, which is investigating.
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which → suspect → police
What sort of sabotage is suspected?
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sort → suspect → sabotage
Pipes and cables had been fixed to railway tracks, causing at least 35 signal failures across the country’s network of trains, ProRail said.
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ProRail → fix → trains
“It appeared that pipes and cables had been laid on the tracks, causing our system to believe that a train was standing on the tracks,” the operator said.
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operator → appear → tracks
That caused the automatic system to change signals to red, preventing trains from passing.
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system → cause → trains
“Unauthorised” materials were found in at least 20 locations in the rail network, the operator said.
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operator → find → network
The sabotage had been going on since Monday, according to some reports.
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sabotage → go → reports
In one case early on Monday, a train “struck metal” on the track near Steenwijk, in the country’s east, according to media reports.
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train → strike → reports
ProRail said there was no damage because the train was not travelling at full speed.
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train → say → speed
While the perpetrators have not been found, Dutch media has reported speculation that angry farmers are behind the sabotage.
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farmers → find → sabotage
ProRail sources told broadcaster NOS that they had spotted farmer groups discussing taking direct action, including by fixing metal pipes to train lines, on social media groups.
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groups → tell → groups
Farmers in the Netherlands have taken similar action in the past, in protest against the government’s nitrogen policy.
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Farmers → take → policy
The Farmers Defence Force (FDF), a protest and advocacy group, said it was not behind the railway sabotage, but did not rule out individual farmers being responsible.
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farmers → say → sabotage
The activist group did, however, say members set hay bales and car tyres alight along various roads across the Netherlands on Tuesday afternoon, on the government’s budget day of Prinsjesdag, in protest.
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members → say → protest
What are farmers protesting about in the Netherlands?
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farmers → protest → Netherlands
FDF opposes planned government policies requiring farmers to reduce nitrogen emissions, arguing that they are being unfairly blamed for nitrogen pollution.
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they → oppose → pollution
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), agriculture accounts for 60-80 percent of human-driven nitrogen emissions.
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agriculture → accord → emissions
“While nitrogen is a natural and necessary nutrient for growing food, modern industrial farming practices introduce far more nitrogen into the ecosystem than the earth and crops can naturally absorb,” the EPA states.
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EPA → grow → ecosystem
But farmers in the Netherlands say reducing these emissions will substantially increase the cost of livestock farming and force some agricultural businesses to reduce production or close down.
“We feel like the country is on fire.
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country → say → fire
Farmers feel as though their businesses are on fire because of the government’s plans”, FDF spokesperson Sieta van Keimpema told Reuters.
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Keimpema → feel → Reuters
The government has promised financial compensation for farmers whose businesses are hit by the proposals.
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businesses → promise → proposals
Why would saboteurs target railways?
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saboteurs → target → railways
According to the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) in San Jose, California in the US, railways have been targeted by groups ranging from al-Qaeda to India’s Maoist guerrilla fighters to extreme environmental groups in Europe.
“Derailments are intended to cause casualties, while attacks on tracks and other right-of-way infrastructure are primarily intended to cause disruption and attract attention,” a 2018 report by the institute explains.
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report → accord → institute
Because of the expansive nature of a railway network, it is impossible to completely defend it from sabotage, making it an easy target for those seeking to cause disruption.
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it → defend → disruption
MTI’s database shows that between 1970 and the end of 2017, there were a total 282 attempts to deliberately derail trains and 817 additional attacks on railway infrastructure, including tracks, bridges, tunnels, signalling and other right-of-way equipment.
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database → show → way
Western Europe has suffered the second-highest number of derailment attempts globally, at 10.6 percent, after South Asia, where the majority of railway attacks take place.
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majority → suffer → place
“The European groups have sought to attract public attention to their issues that motivate them and cause disruption.
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that → seek → disruption
Their actions resulted in inconvenience, but no casualties,” said MTI in its report.
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MTI → result → report
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
