Train crash in Belgium

On Wednesday I was meant to go to Brussels for some work meetings.

These days, just about nobody flies to Brussels or Paris from London. It is so inconvenient to have to go through the bother of getting to the airport, checking in, waiting, flying, landing and getting from the foreign airport. It is so much easier to catch the train, which is more or less just as fast, if not faster when you take into account the time it takes to travel to airports. You start off in the city centre, jump on a train for two hours, and get off in the city centre - perfect!

But this Monday, something tragic happened. Some local commuter trains in Belgium had a head on collision. The trains, carrying 250–300 people, collided in snowy conditions during the morning rush hour. Some 20 people died and hundreds were injured.

Terrible stuff - you tend to feel pretty safe on the train.

The Eurostar train service running from London to Brussels was stopped for a number of days, as they investigated and cleared up the wreckage on the local tracks next to the international service. The effect on me was that my business trip to Brussels was postponed. But obviously the effect on the injured, deceased and their families was much, much greater. My thoughts go out to them.