Business travellers counting on the 2-hour hop between Paris Nord and London St Pancras face new schedule headaches. Eurostar updated its travel-alerts page on Sunday, 8 February 2026, cancelling multiple services between 9 February and 21 March because of “operational restrictions,” a catch-all term covering rolling-stock maintenance, engineering works on French tracks and the slow roll-out of new biometric Entry/Exit System kiosks at UK embarkation points. (eurostar.com)
The operator has not published a full list, but affected trains include peak-hour departures on Mondays and Fridays—prime slots for corporate commuters. Eurostar is offering free rebooking or refunds and urges ticket-holders to check train numbers 24 hours before travel. The disruption follows weeks of ad-hoc cancellations tied to software integration problems between UK pre-clearance kiosks and French border-police systems.
![Eurostar Pulls Dozens of Cross-Channel Trains Through March Amid Operational Constraints]()
For travellers suddenly forced to reroute through Brussels, Lille or even a short-haul airport, paperwork can become as tricky as ticketing. VisaHQ’s France portal (https://www.visahq.com/france/) consolidates up-to-date entry requirements and offers expedited Schengen and UK visa processing, so last-minute itinerary changes don’t derail your business objectives.
Travel-management companies report that Thalys and Air France HOP! have seen a 12 % spike in business-class bookings on routes linking Paris to Brussels and London, as travellers hedge against rail uncertainty. Companies with strict rail-first sustainability mandates may need to grant temporary policy waivers to allow short-haul flights until capacity normalises.
With Paris Fashion Week and several multinational board meetings on the horizon, experts advise booking early-morning trains—statistically least likely to be cut—or routing via Lille, where alternative TGVs can bridge London-bound passengers to the Eurotunnel shuttle. Corporate security teams should also remind staff that Schengen biometric registration (EES) is optional until April 10, mitigating concerns over lengthy border-control queues—for now.
The operator has not published a full list, but affected trains include peak-hour departures on Mondays and Fridays—prime slots for corporate commuters. Eurostar is offering free rebooking or refunds and urges ticket-holders to check train numbers 24 hours before travel. The disruption follows weeks of ad-hoc cancellations tied to software integration problems between UK pre-clearance kiosks and French border-police systems.
For travellers suddenly forced to reroute through Brussels, Lille or even a short-haul airport, paperwork can become as tricky as ticketing. VisaHQ’s France portal (https://www.visahq.com/france/) consolidates up-to-date entry requirements and offers expedited Schengen and UK visa processing, so last-minute itinerary changes don’t derail your business objectives.
Travel-management companies report that Thalys and Air France HOP! have seen a 12 % spike in business-class bookings on routes linking Paris to Brussels and London, as travellers hedge against rail uncertainty. Companies with strict rail-first sustainability mandates may need to grant temporary policy waivers to allow short-haul flights until capacity normalises.
With Paris Fashion Week and several multinational board meetings on the horizon, experts advise booking early-morning trains—statistically least likely to be cut—or routing via Lille, where alternative TGVs can bridge London-bound passengers to the Eurotunnel shuttle. Corporate security teams should also remind staff that Schengen biometric registration (EES) is optional until April 10, mitigating concerns over lengthy border-control queues—for now.
