More than 700 rail passengers who hoped to reach Paris on Friday evening had a memorable night. As a result, they were forced to spend the night on a Thalys high-speed train at Brussels South Station.
After a high-speed train collided with an animal that strayed onto the track, Thalys services were disrupted throughout Friday evening. There was damage to the locomotive, and smoke began to billow from it. There was a power outage near Tournai (Hainaut) and the train came to a halt. As a result, the entire Thalys route was disrupted.
Due to the incident, trains that were already en route and had been forced to stop were able to resume their journey around 9:30pm. Other trains were also canceled. After 10:30am, Thalys trains cannot cross the border from Belgium into France, so trains leaving Brussels South for Paris were unable to leave.
The passengers that were unable to leave for Paris were given various options. People that live in Brussels were offered a free taxi ride home. Those from outside the capital were told that they could book a hotel room and Thalys would refund them at a later date. The third option was to spend the night aboard one of the Thalys trains that were parked up in the station.
Read more here