About 50 travellers were forced to spend the night of Friday to Saturday on a Thalys train in Paris.
The last Thalys train between Paris and Brussels was cancelled on Friday evening so an alternative solution had to be found for the more than 400 passengers, according to Belga news agency.
“Some were able to go back home, others stayed in hotels, but no solution was found for about 50 travellers,” a Thalys spokesperson said on Saturday afternoon. “An empty train was thus made available for them to spend the night.”
During the day, the Thalys trains had been diverted due to an accident, which caused delays. Work began on Friday evening on the Belgian network, so the last Thalys train, whose departure for Brussels had been delayed, was no longer authorised to leave.
Due to high occupancy rates at hotels in Paris, it was not possible to relocate everyone to a hotel.
“Of course, it’s exceptional to make travelers sleep on a train in a case like this,” the spokesperson said. “It goes without saying that the travellers concerned will receive appropriate compensation.”
