Eurostar Still Suspended due to Belgian Train Crash

Eurostar services to Brussels remain suspended this morning after a commuter train crash near the Belgian capital killing 25 people. Belgium's worst rail crash for over 50 years created chaos on the rail network.

Photo: Eurostar Still Suspended due to Belgian Train Crash

Eurostar train services between the UK and Brussels were suspended in the immediate aftermath of the crash, with delays between Eurostar stations in the UK and Lille.

A statement from Eurostar read: "Because of the seriousness of the accident and the expected impact on both domestic and international rail services, passengers between the UK and Brussels are strongly advised to postpone or cancel their journeys," Telegraph reports.

According to Easyvoyage, following a fatal train crash on Monday in Belgium, Eurostar services in and out of Brussels are suspended and are likely to be so 17th February.

Eurostar are advising those whose journey to Brussels is not essential not to travel until further notice. It is possible to either postpone the trip at no extra cost or to cancel them, receiving a full refund. Services between London St. Pancras and Paris are running normally while those to Lille are slightly delayed.

Though the accident occurred in snowy conditions, it’s unlikely to have been caused by the weather, said Andrew Evans, a professor of transport risk management at Imperial College in London.

"Only extremely rarely is the weather a factor in train accidents," Evans said. "Train collisions are quite common, but they’re usually a result of faulty signals and driver errors."

"But for the past three decades, rail safety in industrialized countries has been improving steadily," notes Evans. 'The improvements are measures to protect against human errors."

The vast majority of train accidents during the past 50 years have occurred in developing countries, Philadelphia Metro reports.