A railway strike in Belgium will impact international trains today, particularly to and from the Netherlands.
Though Eurostar trains to and from London will remain unaffected, 16 Eurostar services will be cancelled on Monday, primarily between Brussels and Paris, but also to and from Germany and the Netherlands.
Four more Eurostar services will be cancelled on Tuesday. "Affected passengers have been notified and can exchange their tickets for free or request a refund," said a spokesperson for the railway group.
Eurocity trains between Belgium and the Netherlands will also see reduced services on Monday. Eight Eurocity Direct routes in each direction between Brussels and Amsterdam will be cancelled. Additionally, six Eurocity Direct routes between Brussels and Rotterdam will be cancelled in each direction.
ÖBB's Nightjet trains, which usually run between Vienna and Brussels, will not operate in Belgium during the strike. The train will stop in Cologne on Sunday and will depart again from the German city on Monday. Passengers can travel to Belgium from Cologne via an ICE train.
The frequency of trains connecting nearby foreign stations, such as Roosendaal, Maastricht, Aachen, Luxembourg, Lille, or Maubeuge, will depend on the alternative services arranged by SNCB.
Meanwhile train services between Bruges and Ostend have been suspended since Sunday afternoon, according to railway network manager Infrabel.
The suspension follows a severe fire on Saturday evening at a bicycle company in Bruges, which released asbestos particles into the area.
A specialised company has been cleaning the tracks, resulting in the interruption of train services between Bruges and Ostend. The duration of the intervention and disturbances is uncertain. “Train services have been suspended for an unspecified period,” stated Frédéric Petit, spokesperson for Infrabel.
The SNCB has provided replacement buses running in both directions. Before the suspension, train speeds between Bruges and Ostend were already limited to 20 km/h over a 1.5 km stretch.
