LONDON — Rail service has resumed through the Channel Tunnel after a Tuesday shutdown, but delays continue today (Dec. 31) for trains packed with delayed travelers.
The UK newspaper The Independent reports 30 Eurostar trains were cancelled Tuesday, and at least one that did operate arrived in Paris some 12 hours behind schedule. In all, The Independent estimates about 25,000 people were affected by Tuesday’s cancellations.
Tuesday’s problems began with a power failure in one tunnel bore, the newspaper reports, leading to single-direction fleet movements, but when a LeShuttle auto-transport train broke down, blocking the other tube, all traffic halted. Service that was halted from the beginning of Eurostar service around 6 a.m. finally was restored about 4 p.m. The loss of the rail option sent passengers to airlines, with demand sending ticket prices soaring; the cheapest London-Paris flight remaining today on British Airways is £625 ($840.12); a week from today, the lowest-priced ticket would be £72 ($96.78).
Eurostar’s website warns that there could be “knock-on impacts” from Tuesday’s events including possible last-minute cancellations; LeShuttle says its service is running normally with on-time departures. The Guardian reports that so far, two of today’s London-Paris Eurostar trains have been cancelled, while one extra train was scheduled to address the passenger backlog.
Eurostar also said passengers who had been stranded could receive compensation of up to £150 for hotel rooms, £50 for taxis, and £35 for food and drink expenses. That total of £235 equals $315.88.
The tabloid Daily Mail reports that some Eurostar passengers were stranded overnight on a train that took 11 hours instead of the usual 90 minutes to get from England to France, with those on board without power, heating or air conditioning, or working toilets for much of that time. Passengers on the disabled LeShuttle train, meanwhile, reported being stranded in the tunnel for more than three hours before they were evacuated on foot via a service tunnel between the two Chanel Tunnel bores. After that, they faced an additional wait for their vehicles until the train could be pulled out of the tunnel.
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