Climate activists are targeting the railways in the port of Rotterdam for the third time. They are protesting large global flows of goods. As of this morning, 19 freight trains were stuck in the port, leading to 150,000 euros in financial damage for rail freight per hour, according to Dutch infrastructure manager ProRail.
The protest started around 9:00 on Thursday morning, with approximately 20 protesters chaining themselves to the tracks on the railway line near Pernis. The organisation behind the protest, “Geef Tegengas”, demands that the Port of Rotterdam immediately stop importing and exporting from areas that are linked to human rights violations. It believes that the logistics sector is complicit in the climate crisis, modern slavery and the destruction of nature.
“We have been blocking the rails for three and a half hours already, that means three and a half hours without delivery of coal, weapons, cattle feed via rail!”, Geef Tegengas writes on Telegram. It claims to have caused even more damage than the 150,000 euros that ProRail mentioned.
“Three and a half hours means more than 750,000 euros in damages because at least 19 trains are blocked! As long as the logistics empire is facilitating genocide, climate collapse and human rights abuses, we will block their business.”
Image: Telegram. © Geef TegengasBusiness is not too happy
Deltalinqs, a business association of port companies and industrial companies in the harbour, has spoken out unfavourably about the demonstration. It is “incomprehensible that this is happening and is being allowed. Not only are the protesters seriously endangering themselves with these kinds of actions, but others as well.”
“Finally, it is even an extremely strange action from a sustainability perspective”, Deltalinqs continues. “We want more rail freight transport, since it is a very sustainable form of transport. The right to demonstrate is a great asset in our country, but use other places for this that are safer and do not cause disturbances.”
Geef Tegengas has said that it will continue to block the rails until their demands are met. That includes staying on the rails overnight. During protests earlier in April, the organisation also caused hundreds of thousands of euros in damages.