Dutch trains, traffic, shipping hit in Belgian nat'l strike

The Netherlands will also be affected by the national strike happening in Belgium today. Traveling to and from the striking country is likely to be quite a challenge. The strike started at 22:00 last night and is scheduled to continue until 22:00 this evening. Nearly all sectors of the Belgian economy is affected by this strike, including public transport and public broadcasters. In the Netherlands there will be no trains to and from Belgium today. NS reported on its website that the trains to and from that country stopped at 19:45 last night. NS advises travelers to travel on a different date. Travelers that have already booked a train for today, can cancel or rebook their trip at the original point of purchase. Thalys trains to France will also not be running today as they can not make use of the Belgian rail network. There will be no shipping on the Westerschelde and from Antwerp today. Even the air traffic is affected. The airport in Brussels will be completely closed for the 24 hour period of the strike.