A general strike is planned to take place across Belgium on Thursday December 22nd meaning that the Belgian rail network will be closed on this day.

As a consequence, Eurostar will be unable to operate services to and from Brussels from 22:00 CET on December 21st to 22:00 CET on December 22nd the operator has warned.

In addition, all other domestic and international connecting services to and from Brussels will be unable to operate.

During this period Eurostar services to and from Brussels will terminate and commence at Lille Europe station.

A limited replacement coach service will operate between Lille Europe and Brussels Midi stations in both directions in order to accommodate Eurostar travellers affected by the Belgian general strike.

However, demand is likely to be extremely high for these coaches and we expect both stations to become busy as a result.

Eurostar recommends that passengers booked to travel on a Eurostar service either to or from Brussels on the December 22nd (or on the 19:04 departure from London on the December 21st) exchange their tickets to travel either before or after the December 22nd, wherever possible.

Eurostar will allow exchanges free of charge regardless of ticket conditions but subject to availability on alternative services.