Rail forces Oranje onto plane for European Championship semi-final in Dortmund
From Wolfsburg to Dortmund takes only two hours with the ICE train. However, the Dutch national team is traveling by airplane to their EURO semi-final against England due to two blocked railway routes. The final press conference of the Dutch national team before the EURO semi-final against England has been cancelled at short notice. The reason for this was "a significant delay" in the team's journey from their quarters in Wolfsburg to Dortmund, as UEFA announced in the evening. The press conference with coach Ronald Koeman and defender Nathan Ake, which was scheduled for 19:45, was therefore cancelled.
The Dutch team had originally planned to travel to the Ruhr area by train in the afternoon. However, reports say that the train suffered such a large delay due to a track blockade that the team had to make alternative plans. An alternative railway route apparently was not an option: The tournament organizers reportedly informed the Dutch team that traffic there would also be halted due to a train hitting an animal. According to Dutch TV broadcaster NOS, the team will travel to Dortmund in the evening by airplane instead.
The Dutch national team will face England in the EURO semi-final on Wednesday (from 21:00 in ARD, MagentaTV and in the ntv.de-Live Ticker). The press conference with the coach and a player the day before is a common procedure at major football tournaments according to UEFA and FIFA. UEFA announced that journalists would instead be given access to interview material with Ronald Koeman. The press conference with England's national coach Gareth Southgate and captain Harry Kane took place as planned at 18:45: The Three Lions had already arrived in Dortmund.
Angry looks
During the EURO, Deutsche Bahn's unreliable offering has already made many fans, media representatives, and participants angry. The latest failure came after the Dutch team had publicly complained that after 21:00, no more ICE trains would run from the tournament location Berlin to Wolfsburg. The Austrian national team also had to deal with a train failure. EURO tournament director Philipp Lahm also arrived late to a game due to Deutsche Bahn.
In response to the criticism, Deutsche Bahn acknowledged structural issues in its offering during the EURO last week: "We were indeed not quite up to the mark, our traffic at the EURO did not run smoothly," said Bahn spokeswoman Anja Broker in the ARD. So far, six million people have been on the move with the Bahn during the EURO. "That's a huge travel rush. But the infrastructure in Germany is old and outdated and not reliable, that was also a challenge for us."
Despite initial plans, Philipp Lahm, the EURO tournament director, and the Dutch national team were forced to travel by airplane to Dortmund due to two blocked railway routes and a delayed train caused by a track blockade and a train hitting an animal. The European Football Championship 2024 organizers had advised against alternative railway routes due to further disruptions.
