Belgium To Suspend Train Service On Dec 31

Updated 6:28 AM ET September 10, 1999

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium's train service will be suspended on New Year's Eve to allow checks for millennium bugs on the computer system of operator SNCB, a spokesman for the state-owned enterprise said Friday.

Leen Uyterhoeven said trains would halt around 10 p.m. "We don't know yet precisely whether the trains will start to run again at six o'clock or eight o'clock in the morning," he said.

Companies and governments around the world are spending million of dollars to try to ensure their computer systems do not fail when the new millennium begins. Many older computers use two digits to indicate the year, and may falter when "99" becomes "00."

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Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), September 10, 1999