3-day railway strike in Belgium wreaking havoc

BRUSSELS

A three-day strike of railway workers in Belgium is wreaking havoc with the country's transportation system.

The railway unions started a strike late Monday, complaining to the government of a stingy budget, insufficient infrastructure, failure to improve laborers’ working conditions, and lack of personnel.

Three-quarters of train services across the country have been cancelled.

Half of the trains are set to operate on Wednesday and Thursday.

The inability to use the trains, a popular choice for daily urban and intercity transportation, caused demand for road transportation to shoot up. Traffic in the country was severely disrupted.

It also disrupted cross-border rail services between the Netherlands and Belgium.

A total of nine trains between the neighboring countries – five intercity trains from Amsterdam to Brussels and four heading the other way – have been cancelled.

According to Dutch train company NS, the strike will likely continue to be felt at least through Thursday.

This marked the second railway strike in Belgium in as many months, as unions on Oct. 5 also called a 24-hour walkout.

* Beyza Binnur Donmez from Istanbul contributed to the story