Belgium Rail Strike Eurostar Connections Risk Jan 30
Eurostar says it expects to run a near normal timetable through Belgium during the rail strike window from January 25 to January 30, 2026. That is the headline relief for London, United Kingdom, Paris, France, Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Brussels, Belgium itineraries that route via Brussels Midi. The operational warning is where the risk moved, Eurostar is explicitly flagging that domestic Belgian train traffic could be disrupted and that connecting journeys may need extra time and alternate planning.
For travelers, this is a different problem than a clean cancellation wave. Belgium rail strike Eurostar connections are now primarily about reaching the international departure station on time, and then preserving onward travel after arrival, when the domestic layer that normally provides frequent redundancy can thin out or change by day. If your plan depends on a domestic feeder into Brussels Midi, or you intend to continue deeper into Belgium after stepping off Eurostar, the weak link is the last mile and the domestic transfer, not necessarily the international segment.
Who Is Affected
Travelers riding Eurostar through Belgium are affected first if they are building any same day chain that starts with Belgian domestic rail. The highest risk pattern is a regional city to Brussels Midi feeder that is normally frequent, because reduced frequency turns a small slip into a missed cutoff. Antwerp Centraal to Brussels Midi, Ghent Saint Pieters to Brussels Midi, Bruges to Brussels Midi, and Liege Guillemins to Brussels Midi are common visitor chains that look routine on normal days but become brittle when the domestic network is running a staff dependent alternative plan.
Travelers arriving on Eurostar into Brussels Midi are the next group at risk when they need to keep moving inside Belgium by train. A near normal Eurostar arrival does not guarantee near normal onward options. When domestic trains are reduced, the station can behave like a limited departure schedule rather than a frequent network, which raises the chance of long platform waits, forced reroutes, and a late hotel check in that then breaks evening tickets, tours, or dining reservations.
Air travelers connecting to or from Brussels Airport (BRU) are a separate exposure because the airport rail link is a high volume transfer path. Brussels Airport has warned there will be fewer trains during the strike window and it is directing passengers to plan via SNCB. That pushes more people onto roads at the same time that other rail users are also substituting, which can elevate taxi demand, increase travel time variability, and make airport cutoffs harder to hit.
A final group is travelers on separate tickets across borders, for example domestic Belgian rail plus Eurostar, or Eurostar plus a separate SNCB International or regional ticket. When your journey is not protected as a single through itinerary, the strike converts minor lateness into full itinerary failure more often, because your fallback options may be full, expensive, or no longer aligned with check in steps and station entry requirements.
What Travelers Should Do
Treat station access as the controllable variable, and buy back time. If you are traveling between January 25 and January 30, 2026, plan to arrive at Brussels Midi materially earlier than you would on a normal day, and do not rely on the last domestic feeder that still "should" work. Build your day around one earlier departure plus at least one realistic backup, and keep a screenshot of the itinerary you intend to take in case you need to document disruption later.
Use a simple decision threshold to choose rebooking versus waiting. If missing one feeder train would cause you to miss your Eurostar departure, miss a flight cutoff at Brussels Airport, or force an unplanned overnight, then re route now, either by moving to an earlier domestic departure, switching to a direct road transfer, or shifting your Eurostar booking to a later train that preserves margin. If the consequence is only arriving later and you still have multiple workable departures that remain on sale, waiting can be rational, but only after you verify the day's reduced offer and confirm that your fallback is actually operating.
Over the next 24 to 72 hours, monitor the three channels that change outcomes. Eurostar travel updates will tell you whether the international layer stays near normal or degrades. SNCB is running an alternative service plan that it says becomes reliably visible about 24 hours ahead, so the day before check is more valuable than the normal timetable. Brussels Airport updates matter if you are positioning for a flight, because rail scarcity tends to create road congestion, longer taxi queues, and more volatile arrival times at the terminal.
For background and related timing risks this week, see Belgium Rail Strike Cuts Trains Through January 30 and Amsterdam Centraal Delays Hit Eurostar January 26.
Background
A strike with minimum service changes how rail disruption propagates through a travel system. The first order effect is throughput loss, fewer trains run, frequencies drop, and the network loses the redundancy that normally lets travelers recover from small delays. Even when a specific Eurostar departure operates, the feeder layer is where the chain can fail, because the passenger cannot reach the platform in time, or arrives but cannot continue onward after stepping off the international train.
The second order ripple shows up in station and road behavior. When domestic rail is thinned, demand concentrates onto the remaining departures, which increases crowding at key stations such as Brussels Midi and can slow boarding and platform movement. At the same time, more travelers substitute to taxis, rideshares, and private transfers, which can lengthen queues and increase price volatility around station approaches and airport corridors. For visitors, that often becomes an overnight problem, a missed departure turns into a hotel night that was not planned, plus rebooking costs and lost prepaid activities.
The third ripple is schedule coupling across borders. Eurostar's near normal expectation can mask the fact that travelers are still relying on Belgium's domestic layer for access and onward movement. When the domestic layer is unstable by day, the safest strategy is to reduce tight couplings, avoid last departures, and preserve slack, even if the international layer appears steady on paper.