Eurostar cancelled its two busiest Saturday-morning trains—the 07:04 London St Pancras → Brussels-Midi and the 07:56 return—after a late-night operational review on 6 December flagged rolling-stock availability issues and engineering works in northern France. The disruption was posted to Eurostar’s customer-information portal in the early hours, giving passengers less than six hours’ notice.
The pre-Christmas weekend is prime time for corporate day trips between EU institutions in Brussels and UK headquarters, and the axed services typically carry more than 1,500 passengers—many of them business travellers seeking same-day returns. Eurostar has offered free rebooking or refunds, but seat inventory on later trains is limited, forcing some travellers onto Brussels Airlines or last-minute Thalys connections via Paris.
![Eurostar Pulls Peak-Hour London–Brussels Trains Amid Rolling Stock Shortage]()
HR travel managers should remind employees that Eurostar’s assistive travel policy allows ticket changes within 60 days, but hotel and meeting costs linked to the cancelled legs may not be covered. Companies with time-sensitive freight—such as legal documents or medical samples that use the on-board courier service—should consider contingency routing until the operator confirms fleet stability.
The incident underscores Eurostar’s broader capacity challenge. Two e320 trainsets remain out of service for overhaul, and Channel Tunnel maintenance will restrict overnight movements through mid-January. Analysts warn of further ad-hoc cancellations until the new Velaro-ePS fleet enters service in late 2026.
Belgium’s Transport Ministry says it is monitoring the situation but has limited leverage because Eurostar is a UK-registered entity. Nevertheless, officials are pressing the operator to improve advance-warning protocols so that travellers are not blindsided before critical EU Council meetings.
The pre-Christmas weekend is prime time for corporate day trips between EU institutions in Brussels and UK headquarters, and the axed services typically carry more than 1,500 passengers—many of them business travellers seeking same-day returns. Eurostar has offered free rebooking or refunds, but seat inventory on later trains is limited, forcing some travellers onto Brussels Airlines or last-minute Thalys connections via Paris.
HR travel managers should remind employees that Eurostar’s assistive travel policy allows ticket changes within 60 days, but hotel and meeting costs linked to the cancelled legs may not be covered. Companies with time-sensitive freight—such as legal documents or medical samples that use the on-board courier service—should consider contingency routing until the operator confirms fleet stability.
The incident underscores Eurostar’s broader capacity challenge. Two e320 trainsets remain out of service for overhaul, and Channel Tunnel maintenance will restrict overnight movements through mid-January. Analysts warn of further ad-hoc cancellations until the new Velaro-ePS fleet enters service in late 2026.
Belgium’s Transport Ministry says it is monitoring the situation but has limited leverage because Eurostar is a UK-registered entity. Nevertheless, officials are pressing the operator to improve advance-warning protocols so that travellers are not blindsided before critical EU Council meetings.
