Uh Oh- train problem? - anyone read Dutch?

Not to send you away from this forum, but if you don't get any responses, try the Netherlands forum on Trip Advisor. There are a lot of locals there that I have found to be a great help.

Thanks, will try there as well.

Send me a copy of the emails and I will do my best. I speak some Dutch and would be happy to help. I have family in Belgium I could also reach out to for assistance, if need be.

This may have to do with the Fyra train service being stopped between Amsterdam and Brussels. Here is a link to a news article (hopefully it works, if not just google "Fyra train" http://www.flanderstoday.eu/content/fyra-problems-see-service-withdrawn This new high speed train has experienced many technical problems and both the Dutch and Belgian governments have stopped the service indefinitely until the issues can be resolved. Good luck!!

One other thing, if you were booked on a Fyra train, it sounds like this service is replaced by the former intercity service, so you won't be left completely high and dry, but it will probably take longer. You never know though, maybe this will all get resolved before you go in April. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

The new trains operating on the high-speed line were grounded, or shall I say, stopped on depot, for emergency repairs after they suffered some mechanical issues during last snowstorm 3 weeks ago. They don't have, yet, a date for bringing them back to service. There are a variety of alternative solutions, all of them crappy, offered for passengers. They involve traveling via Roosendaal with a number of changes (1 to 3) depending on the combination of services you want. No through Intercity from Amsterdam to Bruxelles will be offered, they have some trains departing from Den Haag, and passengers travelling from Amsterdam are supposed to make a transfer (or 2, or 3) in Rotterdam Centraal (and maybe in Roosendaal and/or Essen/Antwerpen) from/to Fyra domestic trains to the other trains to Belgium. Be prepared for a trip up to 1h18 longer than the tone with Fyra, in case it is not back on track by the time you travel. This site (from NS High Speed) gives detailed information on the matter (in English) http://www.nshispeed.nl/en The information about the Belgian disruption is still only in Dutch, they will probably add an English version soon. Hopefully the V250 Fyra trains will be back online by April! I reccommend everyone to buy Thalys trains for the time being.

i am booked on a train from Amsterdam to Brussels on the 22nd. I have not gotten any emails from nshispeed. It is on a thayls train. should i be concerned.?

so if the fyra train does not go back online by April 1 should I just take the tickets to the train station when we get to Amsterdam and try and sort it out? I looked for a place on the train website to check my confirmation information like on an airline but could not find any place to do that.

Thalys trains are not affected. The problems are specific to the rolling stock and locomotives used by Fyra. Thalys uses different equipment. EDIT: OK, I saw on the webpage that Thalys is also experiencing some interruptions of service due to scheduled track maintenance, but this doesn't affect the route between Amsterdam and Brussels. The maintenance is being peformed on lines south of Brussels and to Oostende. Finally, back to the original post... your connection from Antwerp to Brugge will be on the normal domestic rail service of Belgium (NMBS). Any disruptions of the Fyra service should not affect this portion of your trip.

I found information about rebooking on the we bsite but can't access the toll free number lsted. Am I missing some numbers? Rebooking and cancellation of your international Fyra tickets is free of charge
If you have an international Fyra ticket you may use that on the day that it is valid to travel between Amsterdam and Brussels via Roosendaal. If you wish, you may cancel your Fyra ticket Amsterdam – Antwerp/Brussels for free, regardless of the rate conditions. It is also free of charge to change your Fyra ticket to a Thalys ticket. For personal advice you can contact Telesales via their free number 0800-0230261, go to a Tickets & Service office at one of the international train stations or contact your own travel agent.

If you're calling from the US, you need to first dial the US exit code (011), then the country code (32 for Belgium, 31 for the Netherlands), then the phone number. It's probably not toll free from the US.

If calling from outside Belgium (country code 32), do not use the leading zero. It's for in-country, out of area code calls, sort of like the leading '1' in calls in this country.

800 phone numbers don't work outside Netherlands. You need to call this: +31 302 331 676 if dialing from outside Netherlands.

Thanks everyone.
I was able to use the non-toll free number from Andre and rebook the tickets to a Thalys train at no additional cost.

Adding to the nearly unending string of negative publicity surrounding the Fyra debacle... I saw in the news today that the CEO of the parent company that manufactured the defective locomotives was arrested for corruption (in Dutch): http://www.standaard.be/artikel/detail.aspx?artikelid=DMF20130212_00466686 No allegations that there was any wrong-doing associated with the Fyra deal, but it just makes you wonder... when Dutch and Belgian rail decided to revamp their important intercity connections into something that could compete against the world-class Thalys service... why did they purchase their equipment from an obscure money-losing Italian firm, and not the industry leaders like Bombardier, Siemens, Alstom or GE?