Train delays Amsterdam–Utrecht: causes and your right to compensation

It will surprise no one: the Amsterdam–Utrecht route is one of the busiest in the Netherlands, and plenty of delays come with it. If you travel this line every day or regularly, this will sound familiar: a points failure at Duivendrecht, broken overhead lines at Bijlmer ArenA, a track inspection that eats up the whole afternoon. In this article we lay out the numbers, explain why it goes wrong so often, and most importantly: how to claim the money you are entitled to when your train is delayed.

How often is the Amsterdam–Utrecht train delayed?

On the Amsterdam Centraal–Utrecht Centraal route, Rijden de Treinen records on average one disruption per day. Over the past 24 months that came to roughly 498 disruptions, each lasting around three hours on average. That puts this line in the top ten most disrupted lines in the country.

The numbers are not spread evenly across the year. Wintry weeks with snow or frost create peaks, and summer brings scheduled engineering works by ProRail that regularly affect the route for entire weekends.

Why does this line run into delays so often?

Five causes keep coming back:

1. Points failures around Duivendrecht and Bijlmer ArenA. Statistically, this is the biggest culprit. A broken set of points at Duivendrecht brought rail traffic between Amsterdam and Utrecht to a standstill for the entire carnival weekend in February 2025. And that is no exception.

2. Overhead line failures. The corridor has four tracks and is heavily loaded; faults in the overhead lines between Bijlmer and Utrecht regularly cause hours of delay.

3. Track defects and subsidence. In December 2025, traffic between Amsterdam and Utrecht was at a standstill for much of the day after reports of possible track subsidence. The investigation found nothing was wrong, but inspecting twelve kilometres of track took the entire afternoon.

4. Knock-on delays from Schiphol and the HSL. International trains and Intercity Directs arriving late from Schiphol carry that delay on to Utrecht.

5. Level crossing failures and people on the track. Unavoidable, and often good for a few hours of single-track running.

Live status: is the train running now?

For up-to-date information, your best options are NS Reisinformatie or Rijden de Treinen. The NS app gives real-time updates per route. To look ahead at planned engineering works, check ProRail.

Already been delayed? Then you can check directly further down this article whether you are entitled to compensation.

Are you entitled to money back for a delay on Amsterdam–Utrecht?

Yes: and on this domestic route the NS scheme is more generous than the European minimum standard. Under the NS "Geld terug bij vertraging" (money back for delays) scheme, you are entitled to:

For comparison: the European rail passenger regulation (Regulation (EU) 2021/782) only requires 25% from 60 minutes, and 50% from 120 minutes. On domestic routes, NS offers a more generous scheme.

To file a claim, you need your check-in time, check-out time and scheduled arrival time: information that is automatically stored on your OV-chipkaart. You have 3 months to submit a claim after the trip.

The biggest delay incidents on Amsterdam–Utrecht

A handful of incidents from the past year give a good picture of how much pressure this route is under:

• December 2025: false reports of track subsidence bring traffic to a standstill for much of the day. Sprinters between Amsterdam and Utrecht and between Amsterdam and Gouda do not run.
• March 2025: two broken sets of points at Duivendrecht disrupt traffic well into February. For an entire carnival weekend, no trains run between Amsterdam and Utrecht.
• Various winter weeks: snowfall, black ice and points failures lead to a record number of disruptions nationwide in January, with this route among the hardest hit.

Tips for passengers on this line

• Alternative routes: if the direct line is not running, the route via Hilversum is often a workable alternative. For larger disruptions, NS also lays on buses.
• Gather proof: take a photo of the disruption board at the station and keep your e-ticket or OV-chipkaart transaction.
• Check in and check out: without a check-out time, your compensation claim cannot be processed automatically.
• Follow NS: @NS_online on X and the NS app provide the fastest updates during major disruptions.

Claim your delay compensation automatically

You are busy enough with work, lectures or appointments, and filling in a compensation claim is the last thing you feel like doing. That is exactly why Trein-vertraging.nl exists. We scan your OV-chipkaart, match all your trips against the official delay data from NS and ProRail, and submit the claim for you without errors. We have already helped 175,000 train passengers, are ISO 27001 certified, and only charge anything when a claim succeeds: no cure, no pay.