Again troubles at Thalys: 800 people stranded in Brussels station

Between 700 and 800 people spent the night of Friday and Saturday on a Thalys train at Brussels-Midi station following an accident with a train and an animal in Tournai. Six trains from Brussels-Midi were cancelled due to the incident.

Because of the cancelled trains travellers had to spend a night in a hotel. Those who could not find accommodation and go home could stay on trains Thalys made available. Between 700 and 800 people chose the latter option.

Saturday morning, 200 of them left for Germany on an ICE train. Four hundred others were taken to Paris on the first Thalys of the day. For the remaining 200 passengers and those who found a solution to spend the night elsewhere than on the train, Thalys increased its transport offer throughout the day, for example by using double trains (two train sets linked together instead of one). The extra trains for Saturday have already been fully booked, says Thalys via Twitter.

Its already the second time this month passengers had to overnight in a train because of technical difficulties. Last week some two hundred passengers spent the night on a stranded Thalys in Paris-Nord station after problems with the airconditioning on board. Earlier that week another Thalys train with 300 passengers also came to a halt in the French department of La Somme. These passengers were able to continue their journey the same day.

Thalys already adjusted its timetable until 2 September to check and repair train sets after these incidents. Some 10 percent of trains were cancelled.

The affected passengers will receive a full refund of their ticket or can get 250 percent of the ticket price back in vouchers. Accomodation cost will be refunded by Thalys

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