Rail service accidentally sends European politicians to Disneyland instead of Parliament
Not many people would call Strasbourg the ‘happiest place on earth’.
So we don’t blame several hundred MEPs and their aides travelling by train from Brussels to the French city for making a quick pitstop at Disneyland Paris today.
An ‘extremely rare switching error’ this morning sent a train to the station which serves the French theme park instead of Strasbourg.
(The error probably didn’t do much to help the reputation of the European Parliament, the EU’s main legislative branch, of being a ‘Mickey Mouse Parliament’.)
There isn’t a direct train from Brussels to Strasbourg, the two host cities of the European Parliament, meaning people have to swap somewhere in the Paris region.
So to get to every plenary session held in Strasbourg each month, EU officials board two specially chartered trains – but they still have to go through Paris to then turn left into the Grand Est capital.
After departing from Brussels-Midi this morning, however, the train looped around Charles de Gaulle Airport and beelined it to Marne la Vallée Chessy.
It remains unclear whether Goofy was working as a signal operator at the time.
Passengers were stuck inside the train during the stopover and sadly couldn’t enjoy a ride on Space Mountain or grab some cotton candy.
Dutch MEP Samira Rafaela posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, a photograph of herself in a café carriage of the train with fellow MEP Mohammed Chahim.
She said: ‘Team Disneyland.’
Belgian MEP Emmanuel Foulon shared a screenshot from Google Maps showing him at the station, with the app suggesting nearby attractions for him to visit.
‘”When magic comes to life,” Disney’s slogan soon to be that of the European Parliament?,’ he joked.
A German MEP for the Greens posted: ‘We are NOT a Mickey Mouse Parliament.’
Parliamentary assistant Marina Tesseri said she was ‘so close to getting off and leaving my amendments behind’.
‘But alas,’ she added, ‘a dream is only a wish your heart makes.’
French railway company SNCF Réseau told the French newspaper L’Opinion said the train missed an interconnecting line as it travelled towards the Paris region.
An ‘extremely rare switching error’ happened at the Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle TGV station, the spokesperson said, adding: ‘I have never heard of such a thing.’
After a 45-minute delay, the train eventually pulled into Strasbourg at 12.50pm. An investigation into the error has been launched.
Mickey Mouse has been approached for comment.
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