The delays of trains across Belgium as a result of the complete standstill this morning caused by smoke on the line between Brussels Midi (South) and Brussels North Station have been reduced.
The rail delays caused by an interruption of train traffic have now decreased to an average of five to ten minutes, and by 16:00 on Tuesday afternoon, the situation on the network is expected to return to normal.
"This means that train traffic can run normally by the start of the evening rush hour," Thomas Baeken, Infrabel spokesperson, told Belga News Agency.
Train traffic came to a standstill at 06:55 on Tuesday as smoke was detected in one of the tunnels connecting Brussels Midi to Brussels Central Station. For safety reasons and at the request of the fire brigade, Brussels Central Station was evacuated. It was later confirmed the smoke was caused by a faulty hand dryer in the station's toilets.
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One in three trains in Belgium pass through this junction in Brussels, and as trains couldn't pass on this lane for an hour in the morning, the incident had a massive impact on the day's timetable.
National railway operator SNCB said that around 300 trains were delayed due to the incident. Furthermore, 113 trains were completely or partially cancelled, resulting (for now) in 5,700 minutes of delays since the incident.
This article was updated on Tuesday at 15:30 to report that train delays have been reduced since noon.
