A fire close to railtracks in a northern suburb of Paris halted Eurostar trains to Britain, Thalys trains to Belgium and other high-speed trains, Reuters cited a spokesman for the French SNCF railways as saying today. The fire started near the local train station of Saint Denis-Stade de France and spread to a nearby travellers' camp. The fire brigade asked SNCF to stop all traffic on that part of the network. "We hope to be able to restart traffic quickly," a spokesman for the state-run railway company said. He said the situation at Gare du Nord, the station from which the Eurostar and Thalys trains depart, was "relatively calm". Gare du Nord is also a major hub for suburban trains servicing the entire northern commuter belt. Several high-speed trains to northern French cities, as well as international services, were already several hours late.
