In the heat of the heat wave, 300 passengers of a Thalys making the trip between Belgium and France had to be evacuated by bus after a catenary rupture, Wednesday.

A Eurostar train and a Thalys were blocked at the exit of Brussels Wednesday by the rupture of a catenary, causing strong disturbances on the high-speed track connecting the Belgian capital to London and Paris. According to the Infrabel network manager, a Eurostar train going to London tore a catenary at the town of Halle shortly after 11 am. The current on the line had to be cut off. A Thalys train that followed the Eurostar was also blocked on the track.

"The train never left"

"I boarded a Thalys in Liège, about 10 am," Gregoire, one of the passengers on the second train, testified to Europe. "A few kilometers after Brussels, the train stopped and they announced the pulling of a catenary.The train never left."

The 300 passengers have been evacuated from the Thalys. "We were dropped on the side of the lines, we walked between 500 meters and one kilometer, until we reached a bridge on which buses came to pick us up." For the elderly and the very young children, "It was a bit complicated, it was very hot, it was 35 degrees," says the traveler, resigned: "I will not have my correspondence to return to Auvergne, I will be forced to sleep in the hotel tonight."

Heat records in Belgium

Water has been distributed to travelers and the gates have been opened to air the stuck train, as Belgium also has records of heat. The two trains were still blocking the track Wednesday afternoon, but a second parallel track is available, which allowed to continue the traffic, even if it remained very disturbed, said Infrabel. According to the Eurostar Twitter account, the 12:58 and 18:04 trains from London to Lille / Brussels and the 14:56 and 16:56 trains from Brussels to Lille / London were canceled.

The Thalys trains showed significant delays, up to more than two hours, and the company advised to check the websites of passenger alert. According to the Belga press agency, around 600 people were on board the blocked Eurostar. They were able to get out of the train to get some air and were then brought back to Brussels, Eurostar's press service reported.