Eurostar cancels London trains after Rotterdam cable fire

Eurostar has cancelled its trains between Amsterdam and London for the next few days, and services to Brussels and Paris are also delayed, after a fire in trackside cabling near Rotterdam.

The fire, on the line between Rotterdam and Zwijndrecht, has also halted domestic trains running south from Rotterdam until at least Thursday evening while track operator ProRail carries out repairs.

Trains from the UK are running only as far as Brussels and cannot continue into the Netherlands, Eurostar said. The operator does not expect services to return to normal before July 3 and is advising people to travel to and from the Netherlands only if essential until then.

Passengers with bookings between Amsterdam or Rotterdam and London can claim a refund, as can anyone who decides not to travel. Trains between the Netherlands, Brussels and Paris are being diverted via Utrecht, adding delays of up to an hour.

It is the second disruption to hit Eurostar in a week. Last week a train carrying around 400 passengers broke down in the heat near Leuven in Belgium, and three people were taken to hospital after being trapped in the temperatures on board.