Trains pass through Utrecht Lunetten station relatively often; station is in the top 5 of the Netherlands

Utrecht Lunetten station was passed by relatively often in 2023 by trains that should have stopped there. To prevent delays, the station was skipped 101 times. Utrecht Lunetten is therefore in 4th place among skipped stations in the Netherlands.

In 2023, NS trains skipped 0.02 percent of all stops at stations. That amounts to 2788 skipped stops out of a total of 12 million. According to the NS, the reason for skipping a station is almost always because a train has been delayed. By skipping a station, the NS wants to prevent delays from increasing so much that a train has to be canceled entirely. This choice can be made if a delayed train gets in the way of other trains.

Utrecht Lunetten station is number 4 in the list of most skipped stations, below Tilburg University, Nijmegen Dukenburg and Nijmegen Goffert. According to the NS, there have been a number of changes in 2023, resulting in sprinters driving on intercity tracks. The trains could continue to run, but in 0.2 percent of cases they could not stop at Utrecht Lunetten because there was no platform on that track.

Another reason why trains are often delayed is an imposed speed limit. For example, if the ground under the track is unstable, ProRail may decide for safety reasons that trains cannot travel at their normal speed there. Tilburg University, the most skipped station, is located in the section where such a speed limit applies and where trains are therefore often delayed. According to NS, the station is often skipped for this reason. Such speed limits apply, for example, between Utrecht and ‘s-Hertogenbosch.