Passengers were asked to exit the train because electricity and ventilation systems shut down | POLITICO source EU gravy train grinds to halt European Parliament officials were delayed for hours along their monthly commute.

European Parliament officials were stranded for hours on their way to Strasbourg on Monday after their train broke down.

A Thalys train chartered by the institution to transport personnel broke down in rural France at around noon local time near Lucy, a tiny community in the Moselle region. Passengers were asked to leave the carriages and wait in a field along the tracks because the electricity and air ventilation system inside the train were shut down.

At 3 p.m., travelers were again able to board the train and about an hour later, another train started towing them toward Strasbourg. But the train stopped again along the way and they were told to disembark temporarily. As of 5:30 p.m., the passengers still had not reached Strasbourg.

In pictures sent to POLITICO, European Parliament officials can be seen checking their emails next to the train tracks as sheep graze in the background.

The European Parliament charters two trains each month to transport all officials from Brussels to Paris and then to Strasbourg for a plenary session.

Euroskeptic politicians often argue the commute is a waste of resources, and some MEPs have pushed to change the mandatory monthly migration. But France routinely blocks any effort to change the rules.

Some argued Monday's train breakdown showed why the Parliament should have just one seat.

"The @Thalys train to Strasbourg stopped for 1,5 hours now - no electricity!!" tweeted Taina Mertalo, a member of the center-right European People's Party group who works in communications. "#oneseat is welcomed more desperately and urgently than ever!"

European Parliament deputy spokesperson Marjory van den Broeke tweeted a photo showing officials posing for pictures in front of the stranded train.

Stuck on our way to Strasbourg pic.twitter.com/ni2e7J1Uib — M van den Broeke (@mvandenbroeke) June 11, 2018