Return to normality on the Thalys line after the collision of an animal on Friday that caused numerous interruptions in traffic between France and Belgium. “The first Thalys at 7:09 am arrived 40 minutes late. Since then, things have been going well,” a spokesman for SNCF, the majority shareholder of the Eurostar group, which now owns Thalys, told AFP on Saturday. . “He is much better, the situation is recovering little by little,” added a Thalys spokeswoman.
“Following yesterday’s incident, disruptions are still expected today,” the Brussels-based company’s website said Saturday morning, but the link to provide real-time information took travelers to an error page. By mid-morning, trains were delayed between 10 and 50 minutes, according to a journalist from AFP Gare du Midi in Brussels.
An animal hit by a train on Friday
An animal had been run over by a train from Brussels on Friday at 3:55 p.m., near Tournai (western Belgium).
Thousands of travelers stranded
Thousands of passengers remained trapped on the trains late into the night. “I am learning patience, with four hours to wait before my train leaves,” European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer tweeted. “I’m learning about hope, praying they don’t take it away. At least it’s good for my diet, since they don’t give us food.”
In Paris and Brussels, customers were offered to return home by taxi, sleep in the hotel or on Thalys trains that remained at the station, the spokesman said. Between 700 and 800 people stayed overnight in Brussels-Midi, according to the spokesman. Already affected by other incidents, Thalys had reduced its frequencies, canceling around 10% of its trains until the beginning of September in order to repair two trains.
Source: BFM TV
