EUROSTAR has launched a limited service of just three trains a day between London and Brussels, as disruption continues in Belgium following the train crash a week ago in which eighteen people died.

Investigators are still working at the scene of the collision near Halle, some 15km south west of Brussels, and High Speed lines through the area remain blocked.

Eurostar said it was able to run no more than three trains a day this week using a diversionary route over suburban commuter lines, and 50mins will be added to the journey, which normally takes just under two hours. The normal weekday service is nine trains a day. Shuttle buses are also continuing to run between Lille and Brussels.

Meanwhile, Belgian crash investigators have been examining the data recorder from one train, and a war of words has broken out between SNCB and the European Commission over the lack of an automatic protection system on one of the trains, which is thought to have contributed to the accident. SNCB chief executive Marc De Scheemaecker said: “The EU's hesitations on a harmonised automatic braking system caused delays to Belgian plans to secure the lines.”

But the Commission has rejected the accusation. Enrico Grillo-Pasquarelli, who is director of inland transport, responded: “We did not prevent the Belgian state or the SNCB from installing a national security system.”