BELGIUM: Strike halts trains

Record ID: 339124

  • Title: BELGIUM: Strike halts trains
  • Date: 19th October 2010
  • Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (OCTOBER 18, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS TRAINS AT STANDSTILL AT BRUSSELS MIDI STATION TRAINS WITH RED LIGHTS REFLECTED ON WINDOWS TRAINS AT STANDSTILL OUTSIDE STATION, FIRE BURNING IN BRAZIER DISPLAYED BY WORKERS ON STRIKE VARIOUS STRIKING TRAIN WORKERS (SOUNDBITE) (French) PHILIPPE LEJEUNE, NATIONAL SECRETARY OF RAILWAY WORKERS UNION 'CGSP', SAYING:
  • Embargoed: 3rd November 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Belgium
  • Country: Belgium
  • Topics: Employment,Social Services / Welfare
  • Reuters ID: LVA9TYZOB9O8RBKEQYXYY2I75RV5
  • Story Text: A 24-hour strike by one of Belgium's main rail unions brought services in the country to a virtual halt on Monday (October 18), including high-speed Eurostar and Thalys trains to and from neighbouring countries.
    The socialist ACOD union called the strike from 10 p.m. (2000 GMT) on Sunday in protest over the terms of new contracts for employees at rail operator SNCB/NMBS's freight unit.
    All stations in Brussels were closed and there were no trains in the southern region of Wallonia, said train line operator Infrabel.
    Eurostar laid on a limited service of its high-speed trains from London to the French city of Lille, near the Belgian border, with buses taking passengers to and from Brussels. One evening train was due to make the whole journey.
    No Thalys trains connecting Belgium with France, Germany and Netherlands were running.
    Philippe Lejeune, the national secretary for railway union 'CGSP', said at least 1,000 jobs are under threat because of the plan.
    ''The action to outsource in the short term is a threat to the customers and the trains of tomorrow may be of a lesser quality and the public service will not be the same as the one we have today,'' Lejeune said.
    Some 400,000 to 500,000 people travel on the Belgian rail network on a typical weekday and the strike caused major congestion on the highways.
    Meanwhile, passengers expressed their frustrations.
    Gaetano Giallombardo, who said he was due in France for tests prior to joining the Foreign Legion, said: "It seems that the strike is everywhere so we are really annoyed."
    Model Lina Sabani was due in London for a fashion shoot and said: "It's impossible to get a ticket at this time. We couldn't even get a ticket for after tomorrow, it was already booked."
    The strike was due to end late on Monday, but the slow resumption of services meant disruption was likely during Tuesday morning's rush hour.
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