480 Passengers Stranded on High-speed Amsterdam-Paris Train

Around 480 people were stranded on a high-speed train linking Amsterdam to Paris after a fire in its engine that hospitalized the train's driver, the rail company and emergency services said.

Some 20 high-speed TGV, Thalys and Eurostar cross-Channel trains have been diverted as a result of the incident, each suffering a delay of "around 30 minutes,” national rail operator SNCF said.

"The front engine had a mechanical problem ... it gave off smoke," a spokeswoman for national rail operator SNCF said of the train stopped between the villages of Chaulnes and Combles in France's northern Somme region.

"Damage is minimal but we've had to halt traffic on tracks one and two," the spokeswoman said.

Over 40 firefighters were dispatched to deal with the smoke, the emergency services said.

SNCF said the train's driver had been hospitalized with smoke inhalation.

Around 200 passengers in the front part of the train were moved to the rear section because of smoke. The train is to be towed to the town of Arras from where the passengers will be taken to their original destination, Paris.