In France, TGV services departing from and arriving at Lille stations were "severely" disrupted on Wednesday morning due to "an act of vandalism" but the cables have since been repaired.
After hours of delay, the TGV Network has repaired cables in Lille. French railway operator SNCF said high-speed trains can resume normally at 14:00.
High-speed train traffic was severely disrupted all Wednesday morning due to the theft of over 600 metres of cables near Lille, with the main impact on departures and arrivals at Lille Europe and Lille Flanders. Eurostar also experienced delays as a result.
Delays may continue into the afternoon, an SNCF spokesperson warned.
"The SNCF network has been the victim of a significant act of vandalism in Lille: over 600 metres of cable have been stolen or cut south of Lille Europe station," the railway operator stated.
Eurostar services between London and Brussels were also disrupted, the company told Belga News Agency. "Trains are being rerouted to secondary routes, extending journey times. Customers have been contacted directly. Eurostar is advising those due to travel today to reschedule with free exchanges and refunds available."
TGVs are being diverted onto regular tracks where possible, but the line's capacity is limited.
20 cable technicians and specialised agents were deployed to address the issue.
Two fatal accidents
On Tuesday evening, there were also severe delays of more than three hours and cancelled trains at Eurostar due to two fatal accidents in the north of France. This was reported by French and British media.
According to the local newspaper La Voix du Nord, one person was hit by a Eurostar train near Ennetières at around 16:30.
The second fatal accident reportedly occurred on the line between Lille and Arras.
According to British newspaper The Sun, five Eurostar trains were cancelled on Tuesday evening, resulting in long queues. On social media, passengers complained that they were stuck on a train between London and Paris for up to seven hours.
