Snow cripples air, train and road traffic in Amsterdam and Paris

By Bart H. Meijer and Charlotte Van Campenhout

AMSTERDAM, Jan 5 (Reuters) – Heavy snowfall disrupted air, road and rail travel in France and the Netherlands on Monday, as hundreds of flights were cancelled in the countries’ capitals, while trains around Amsterdam came to a standstill and bus services in Paris were suspended.

Amsterdam Schiphol airport, one of Europe’s busiest hubs, cancelled about 700 flights on Monday as the airport closed to incoming traffic until 1200 GMT due to the snow, a spokesperson said. During that time, planes were diverted to other airports.

“There are long lines here,” a traveller stranded at Schiphol told Dutch media outlet AD. “There’s not too much clarity on what is actually going to happen.”

Meanwhile, France’s civil aviation authority asked carriers to reduce takeoffs and landings by 15% or roughly 30 flights at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and 40 flights at Paris-Orly until the evening, according to Aeroports de Paris.

1,000 KM OF TRAFFIC JAMS IN PARIS

French transport minister Philippe Tabarot urged travellers to check if their flight was operating before leaving home, and to use public transport to reach the airport.

He also ordered speed restrictions on roads across the Ile-de-France region that surounds Paris of 80 km (50 miles) per hour. State-owned RATP, which operates Paris’ public transportation, said it cancelled dozens of bus lines. Underground and suburban trains were operating normally.

Traffic jams reached almost 1,000 km in total at one point on the roads of Ile-de-France, the website of the region’s prefecture showed, up from usual peaks of some 300 km.

AMSTERDAM TRAINS AT A STANDSTILL

Dutch railway company NS said no trains were operating in the region around Amsterdam and public transport was severely affected in many places. NS added that it would implement a “winter scheme” on Tuesday, with fewer trains in service.

International train operator Eurostar said trains originally scheduled to travel to the Netherlands would instead only run as far as Brussels in neighboring Belgium. Eurostar train departures from the Netherlands on Monday were cancelled.

Ice and snow also caused many delays and accidents on the roads, even as authorities advised people to stay at home whenever possible.

Further delays and disruptions are expected in the coming days due to the ongoing winter weather.

(Reporting by Bart Meijer, Charlotte Van Campenhout, Inti Landauro and Louise Rasmussen; Editing by Kirsten Donovan, Emelia Sithole-Matarise, Alexandra Hudson)