International rail operator Eurostar issued multiple real-time alerts on Sunday evening, 22 February 2026, flagging significant disruptions affecting services that start or terminate in Brussels-Midi. Live-service pages showed cascading delays caused by late-arriving rolling stock from the maintenance depot, track-access problems in France and smoke near the Rotterdam–Antwerp corridor. Several trains were ultimately cancelled outright, and the carrier announced that further capacity reductions would continue into Monday morning.
For business travellers the timing is awkward: Monday 23 February marks the start of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and a busy week for EU institutions in Brussels. Travel-management companies reported a surge in last-minute re-bookings to Thalys, KLM and even short-haul flights on Brussels Airlines. Eurostar’s Club Eurostar customer-service team advised passengers to postpone non-essential trips or exchange tickets free of charge within 60 days.
![Eurostar Warns of Widespread Delays and Cancellations on Brussels Routes]()
Should last-minute reroutes force passengers to transit additional Schengen or non-Schengen checkpoints, VisaHQ can rapidly confirm any visa or transit-permit requirements and organise the necessary paperwork online; their Belgium page (https://www.visahq.com/belgium/) is a quick way to check compliance before boarding.
The latest problems come on top of planned engineering works that already limit Amsterdam–Brussels capacity until April and a prospective nationwide Belgian strike on 12 March. Mobility advisers say companies should build additional buffer time into itineraries, secure fully flexible fares and brief employees on reimbursement procedures under EU Rail Passenger Rights Regulation 2021/782.
Looking ahead, Eurostar plans to introduce its new e-gate biometric boarding system at Brussels-Midi in Q2 2026, which the company hopes will speed up border processing and mitigate knock-on delays. Until then, global-mobility teams are urged to keep a close watch on Eurostar’s live-traffic portal and consider alternative routings via Paris Charles de Gaulle or Düsseldorf for time-sensitive assignments.
For business travellers the timing is awkward: Monday 23 February marks the start of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and a busy week for EU institutions in Brussels. Travel-management companies reported a surge in last-minute re-bookings to Thalys, KLM and even short-haul flights on Brussels Airlines. Eurostar’s Club Eurostar customer-service team advised passengers to postpone non-essential trips or exchange tickets free of charge within 60 days.
Should last-minute reroutes force passengers to transit additional Schengen or non-Schengen checkpoints, VisaHQ can rapidly confirm any visa or transit-permit requirements and organise the necessary paperwork online; their Belgium page (https://www.visahq.com/belgium/) is a quick way to check compliance before boarding.
The latest problems come on top of planned engineering works that already limit Amsterdam–Brussels capacity until April and a prospective nationwide Belgian strike on 12 March. Mobility advisers say companies should build additional buffer time into itineraries, secure fully flexible fares and brief employees on reimbursement procedures under EU Rail Passenger Rights Regulation 2021/782.
Looking ahead, Eurostar plans to introduce its new e-gate biometric boarding system at Brussels-Midi in Q2 2026, which the company hopes will speed up border processing and mitigate knock-on delays. Until then, global-mobility teams are urged to keep a close watch on Eurostar’s live-traffic portal and consider alternative routings via Paris Charles de Gaulle or Düsseldorf for time-sensitive assignments.
