Eurostar services through the Channel tunnel are slowly resuming on Wednesday after an electricity failure on Tuesday stranded thousands of passengers, with some trapped overnight in powerless trains. The operator has warned of knock-on impacts on New Year's Eve, including further delays and possible last-minute cancellations.
Two London-Paris trains were cancelled on Wednesday, and most trips faced delays in both directions. The first train from London St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord, scheduled for 6.01am, was cancelled, while the 6.31am departure was delayed due to a technical problem on another train in the tunnel. The 16.01 service to Paris was also cancelled.
The disruption began on Tuesday when an overhead power line fell onto a Eurostar train near the entrance to the Channel tunnel, and a LeShuttle train also failed. This caused severe delays and cancellations across the network, affecting services between London, Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels. Eurostar staff handed out water bottles at St Pancras, while traffic jams built up at the Folkestone terminal.
Passengers described harrowing experiences. Ghislain Planque told BFM TV his journey from London to France took 11 hours instead of the usual 90 minutes, with no electricity, heating or air-conditioning. Another passenger, stuck overnight, reported no electricity, toilets or information. LeShuttle passenger Tim Brown said he was stuck in his car for over three hours with no access to food or water.
The disruption comes amid criticism of Eurostar's high fares, particularly on the Paris-London route. The company has held a monopoly on passenger services through the tunnel since it opened in 1994, but Virgin's Richard Branson and Italy's Trenitalia have both announced plans to launch rival services.
