Eurostar cancels Brussels services for 28 June amid heatwave-related speed limits and staffing shortages

Eurostar has issued an extraordinary travel alert for Sunday, 28 June 2026, cancelling multiple trains linking Brussels-Midi/Zuid with London, Paris and Amsterdam. The operator cites a combination of ongoing industrial unrest in Belgium, speed restrictions imposed on overheated rail infrastructure, and a shortage of safety-critical staff rostered for weekend shifts. The cancellations come on the heels of Saturday’s nation-wide strike that paralysed large parts of Belgium’s rail network. Although Eurostar’s cross-border trains fall outside the direct remit of domestic unions, shared infrastructure and signalling dependencies mean that any disruption on Belgian territory cascades across the high-speed network. In addition, Infrabel, the Belgian rail-infrastructure manager, has imposed 80 km/h speed caps on several sections of track after persistent temperatures above 35 °C caused rail-head expansion and the risk of buckling.



At this stage, travellers forced to reroute through alternative Schengen hubs—or anyone needing to refresh expired documents because of changed dates—can simplify the paperwork by using VisaHQ’s digital visa and passport services. From Belgian multi-entry visas to French transit permits, the platform (https://www.visahq.com/belgium/) offers real-time requirement checks, application support and secure courier options, helping ensure documentation keeps pace with rapidly shifting travel plans.

Passengers booked on affected services are offered fee-free exchanges within 60 days or full refunds. Eurostar strongly “advises against non-essential travel” on 28 June and warns that residual delays are likely on 29 June as rolling stock and crews are repositioned. Travellers attempting to connect to onward flights at Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle or Amsterdam-Schiphol are urged to re-check airline minimum-connection times or consider overnight accommodation. For corporate travel managers, the disruption highlights the vulnerability of multinational staff shuttling between headquarters in Brussels and client sites across Europe. Several consulting firms have shifted meetings to virtual platforms, while law-firms report postponing EU-court appearances to avoid missed deadlines. Mobility vendors recommend maintaining flexible tickets and factoring extra buffer days into assignment schedules through the peak summer period. Eurostar says it is working with Infrabel and SNCF Réseau to ease bottlenecks and hopes to restore a near-normal timetable by Tuesday, assuming temperatures moderate and Belgian strike action subsides. The episode nevertheless renews calls for a Schengen-wide contingency protocol to keep critical business corridors open during climatic or industrial crises.