March 22, 2023 – 11:43 AM
Some flights have been suspended for at least a week in Dutch rail traffic, because badgers have tunneled under the railway tracks, making the railways impassable. Deutsche News wrote on Wednesday that trains between Den Bosch and Eindhoven, located in the south of the country, will definitely not run next week, because the tunnels could cause the railway track to sink, and this is dangerous.
A spokesperson for ProRail, which maintains the Dutch rail network, told the Dutch press that it was not possible to say how long the disturbances would last, as marmots are a protected animal in the Netherlands, so a permit is required to remove them and disturb their habitat.
According to the MTI report, the route between Den Bosch and Eindhoven is an important route connecting the north and south of the country, with 16 passenger and freight trains passing through it every hour. At the beginning of the month, in the north, near Molkwerum in Friesland, badgers also nested under railway tracks, causing traffic to be suspended on one of the lines until next month.
Because of the two outages in one week, the rail company is now in emergency talks with the Ministry of Infrastructure, said John Faubin, chief executive of ProRail. “It is in the interest of travelers and railway companies that we act as quickly as possible,” he said.
Badgers love sandy soil, so railway bridges are an ideal habitat for them. ProRail is now working to get permission to build artificial colonies where they can safely transport badgers.
