Belgian winter’s snowfall disrupts international trains
The railway passengers, who were travelling ahead of Christmas, on routes which connect Belgium to the Netherlands, Britain, France and Germany, faced delays on Saturday as the international trains faced disruption due to ice on power lines.
Infrabel, which is responsible for the management of Belgian rail infrastructure, said that they had halted two train services – a French TGV and an international Thalys – mid-route.
Two hours later, the services were restarted as platforms of Brussels’ Midi Station saw huge crowds swelling up. However, the officials had warned the passengers that they may face knock-on delays throughout the day.
Along with the Thalys route, which connects Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels, the Eurostar service which runs from Brussels to London was also disrupted and one train was at least cancelled during the day.
Traffic has restarted, but there will be multiple delays throughout the day on international services,” a spokesperson of Infrabel said.
The rail company said that two trains of Thalys connecting Amsterdam to Paris via Brussels were cancelled. The passengers will also have to face long delays on railway service connecting to Schiphol airport and the German town of Dusseldorf. ‘
One of the passengers, who had made a booking on a Eurostar train to travel from Brussels to London, said that he was informed about the train’s cancellation and was given a chance to either get a refund or rebook his travel.
“We have a plan for winter, including infrastructure inspections and de-icing measures, but there’s no such thing as zero risk,” the spokesperson of Infrabel said.
(With inputs from agencies)
