Eurostar will be unable to operate any services between the UK and Brussels next Monday because of a general strike in Belgium.
The strike, which is due to start at 10pm on Sunday, will close the Belgian rail network and there will be no services between Lille and Brussels Midi station.
Eurostar will not be running any services to Brussels or Lille on Monday and is advising all passengers to change their travel plans and exchange tickets or get refunds.
It expects to resume a full service immediately the industrial action ends
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Why would they not run any services to Lille? Lille is in France and some of the Paris-bound trains stop there en route.
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Cant answer that this is what the web site says, i was due to go and have now booked flight to brussels insted.
Due to industrial action in Belgium, Eurostar will be unable to operate any services between the UK and Brussels on Monday 6 October 2008. A 24-hour general strike in Belgium will commence at 22h00 (CET) on Sunday 5 October 2008.
The industrial action will mean that Brussels Midi station and the rest of the Belgian rail network will be closed. This means there will be no rail services operating between Lille and Brussels Midi station. There will also be no high-speed onward rail connections on Thalys or ICE, from Brussels to destinations in France, the Netherlands and Germany.
Because of the constraints of the amended timetable due to the Channel Tunnel incident in September, Eurostar will also not be able to operate a service between the UK and Lille on Monday 6 October.
Eurostar is therefore advising all passengers travelling between the UK and Brussels or Lille on 6 October that they should change their travel plans, and exchange their tickets for alternative dates or obtain refunds by contacting their original point of sale. For more information visit www.eurostar.com or contact the Ashford Contact Centre on 08705 186 186.
On Sunday 5 October, the 19h30 departure (train 9158) from London to Brussels will terminate at Lille.
On 6 October, only the 19h30 (train 9158) service from London will operate through to Brussels via Lille, on the assumption that the Belgian high-speed line would re-open at 22h00 (CET). The availability of tickets on this train is limited.
Eurostar services between St Pancras International, Ebbsfleet International, Ashford International and Paris will operate as stated in the new amended timetable issued 1 October 2008.
Eurostar expects to resume a full service immediately once the industrial action has ended.
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They say %26quot;Because of the constraints of the amended timetable due to the Channel Tunnel incident in September%26quot; (Eurostar will also not be able to operate a service between the UK and Lille on Monday 6 October)
Presumably it isn%26#39;t worth operating the Lille trains that would have continued to Brussels when they can%26#39;t take them back through the tunnel because of its currently reduced use.
I also didn%26#39;t think Eurostars to Paris did stop at Lille, I had a quick look for one day (a Friday) and the only Paris train that stopped in France before Paris did so at Calais-Fréthun, where the train comes out of the tunnel. Lille is not on the direct route from there to Paris, and to go that way you normally have to change from Lille-Europe to Lille-Flandres station and continue by TGV.
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P.S. It%26#39;s not strictly speaking a Eurostar strike, but a strike by 3 large Belgian unions covering the entire public transport system, including Belgian Railways (part-owners of Eurostar and Thalys) and all local buses, trams, metros as well as schools, large supermarket chains and so on.
Brussels Airport website says nothing about baggage handlers or ground staff being on strike on Monday - %26quot;Flightcare%26quot; staff struck early, on Friday 3 October! - but does confirm that the (privately run) Antwerp Shuttle bus will be operating: brusselsairport.be/fr/news/newsItems/323477
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