General strike hits Eurostar services
Published: 10:09, 03 November 2009
Updated: 13:07, 31 May 2022
Eurostar services between the UK and Brussels will be hit by a 24-hour general strike in Belgium, starting tomorrow night.
Brussels Midi station and the rest of the Belgian rail network will be closed from 10pm (Central European Time) on Wednesday until 10pm on Thursday. Eurostar services between the UK and Brussels will be cancelled during that period, but a modified timetable will operate between the UK and Lille
There will also be no high-speed onward rail connections from Brussels to destinations in France, the Netherlands and Germany.
Eurostar is advising all passengers travelling between the UK and Brussels and to onward destinations in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands that they should change their travel plans, and exchange their tickets for alternative dates or obtain refunds by contacting their original point of sale.
Passengers travelling between the UK and Lille on Thursday should check in as normal and they will be accommodated on the next available service. This is because Lille is served by trains on the London - Brussels route.
Eurostar services between the UK and Paris will operate a near normal service with some services having an additional stop at Lille. Services between London / Ashford and Disneyland Resort Paris will operate normally.
Tomorrow, the 7.34pm London to Brussels (train 9158) will terminate at Lille. Travellers for Brussels on this train should make arrangements to travel on an earlier Eurostar service to Brussels. The last service to Brussels on this day will be the 6.30pm (train 9154).
On Thursday, ONLY the 7.30pm (train 9158) service from London will operate through to Brussels via Lille, on the assumption that the Belgian high-speed line will re-open at 10pm (CET). The availability of tickets on this train is extremely limited.
Normal Eurostar services will resume on Friday.
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David Jones