Train drivers strike after deadly crash

Belgian train drivers went on strike Tuesday to protest over safety conditions after the collision of two commuter trains on Monday that left at least 18 people dead. Drivers claim that poor working conditions contributed to the crash near the town of Halle, 15 kilometres southwest of Brussels.

Rescue teams at the site of the train crash in Halle. Photo: Reuters

Train drivers decided to strike spontaneously without the involvement of rail unions, after claims that one of the trains in Monday's crash was not fitted with crucial safety equipment.

The strike has further disrupted rail services across Belgium and northern Europe since the accident halted traffic on Monday.

Eurostar trains in and out of Brussels were cancelled for a second day on Tuesday along with all Thalys services to France, Germany and the Netherlands.

Engineers are unable to repair the tracks where the accident occured until investigators finishing searching the site for clues to why the two trains collided.

One of the trains failed to stop at a red light and hit the other at high speed, according to early reports.

The line on which the trains collided is fitted with a security system designed to halt trains automatically at a stop signal.

Yet one of the trains in Monday's crash was not equipped with this system, according to Marc Descheemaecker, chief executive of the SNCB national rail service.

The company took the decision to fit its trains with an automatic braking system in 2005, Descheemaecker said, "but that can't be done all at once".

The accident, the worst in Belgium's history, left 18 people dead and 95 injured.

The death toll could yet rise, with rescue workers continuing to search the wreckage for bodies and several people still in hospital.