BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A nationwide strike severely disrupted public transport in Belgium on Monday and forced cancellation of all Eurostar and Thalys rail services in and out of the country.
In Brussels, all tram services were scrapped and only a fraction of all metro and bus services were running, a spokesman for public transport company STIB said.
Provincial train services were also affected and the two main rail stations in the capital, Brussels Midi and Brussels Central, were closed.
Frederic Petit, spokesman for Belgian train operator Infrabel, said all Eurostar services linking Brussels to London and Lille had been suspended until 10 p.m. (9 p.m. British time) as well as all Thalys services to France, the Netherlands and Germany.
"There are hardly any services to Brussels," said Frederic Petit, spokesman for train operator Infrabel. He said there were no services from the French-speaking Wallonia region and only limited services from Flanders with delays.
Petit said he did not expect an improvement before the scheduled end of the strike at 10 p.m.
Unions are protesting against what they say is the government's failure to respond to rising prices and are urging it to take steps to alleviate the impact of inflation.
They say they want to send a clear signal to the government before it presents its 2009 budget to parliament on October 14.
(Reporting by Antonia van de Velde; editing by David Brunnstrom)
