AlbatrosBeing in a train stopped on the tracks due to the ice, even in the middle of the countryside and the absolute nothingness, is never pleasant. And the thing is rather indigestible also to governments to buy the train in which they have spent millions of euro. It is more or less what happened in Belgium, where they assigned to the train V250 Albatros Breda (called Fyra) to cover the route Amsterdam – Brussels.

The high-speed trains were stopped and reported in the stations after that, during a snowfall, a convoy lost parts because of ice that was accumulated nearby. There should have even been appointed a commission of inquiry in order to clarify why this jewel of the Italian technology stock has surrendered before the Belgian winter. This is the reason why the passengers do buy the so called multi trip travel insurance, but the problem is that nobody listens to these companies. The passengers that didn’t have any insurance will have to leave the train and go for another transportation mean. The local railways have threatened to cancel orders (around 19 trains at a cost of € 380 million) outstanding if the problem is not resolved within a few months. The heads of Breda would have been quite surprised for the inconvenience, since in test circuits in Austria and the Czech Republic the V250 would never have had these problems:

The problems which occurred in the last days to the trains V250, were caused by unexpected problems that, after the initial scrutinizing, appear to be linked to an undue accumulation under the vehicles, large amounts of snow which then turned into ice, detaching during the running of the train has caused damage to some parts of the underbody. These drawbacks have not, however, affected the safety of the train and its passengers. AnsaldoBreda apologizes for any inconvenience to the customer that has occurred to the passengers and ensures that it is doing best to resolve the issue.

Meanwhile, the passengers have no choice but to use the more expensive and less frequent fast trains Thalys or make do with the local lines and bus replacement services designed to connect Breda (yes, the city is called Breda) Roosendaal and Antwerp. So if you plan to visit Belgium, do not count too much on their trains and if you want some help, click here to see some quality and luxurious trains that run around the world.