Easter holidaymakers and lorry drivers heading to mainland Europe faced further delays on Monday after a Eurotunnel Le Shuttle train broke down in the Channel Tunnel. The breakdown occurred as Eurotunnel reported traffic levels not seen since 2019, coinciding with the first school holidays since the UK scrapped all Covid travel restrictions.
The disruption affected a freight-only train en route to Calais, which developed a safety problem and had to be repaired inside the tunnel before being towed back to Folkestone. This blocked one of the two tunnels, reducing capacity and causing minor delays to Eurostar services. Queues for drivers waiting to board Eurotunnel in the UK stretched to three hours, while delays in Calais were around one hour.
Eurotunnel stated it expected services to return to full capacity by Monday afternoon. The incident added to existing pressures on cross-Channel transport, following the suspension of P&O Ferries after it sacked 800 crew without notice two weeks ago. One of its ships, the Pride of Kent, failed a subsequent safety inspection, and services on the Dover-Calais route are not expected to restart for several days.
Capacity was further reduced last week when storms halted all ferry sailings and a DFDS vessel was taken out of service after a minor incident. The firm had been carrying rebooked P&O Ferries customers. With increased leisure traffic at the start of the Easter holidays, roads into Dover were gridlocked on Friday. Operation Brock, the emergency contraflow system for Brexit-related lorry queues, was activated but lifted on Sunday night as traffic eased.
A Eurotunnel spokesperson apologised for delays caused by the technical issue, assuring customers that crews were working to remove the train and restore normal service as quickly as possible.
