Thousands of Eurostar passengers face travel chaos as services cancelled close to New Year
The big New Year getaway descended into chaos on Tuesday, with nearly 25,000 passengers stranded as Eurostar trains were canceled without notice.
During one of the busiest travel periods of the year, services between London and Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam were stopped for hours.
Some trains leaving Kings Cross St Pancras turned around en route and returned to London; This five-hour round-trip journey ended where the train started.
It was claimed that the problem was caused by a power outage in the Channel Tunnel and a faulty train blocking the route.
Crowds of passengers waited at St Pancras and Paris Gare du Nord stations. Many tried to switch to ferries but found their reservations were fully booked.
To accommodate extra passengers, EasyJet replaced some of its planes with larger planes and operated an additional flight in both directions.
Hundreds of cars were stuck in queues for LeShuttle at Folkestone before car-train services to Calais started to restart around three hours after the disruption began.
Passengers were “strongly advised” not to travel to London St Pancras.
Independent‘s travel correspondent Simon Calder counted 37 train cancellations in the first four hours of the chaos; 25 between London and Paris and a dozen between London and Brussels.
Eurostar has also restricted its London-Amsterdam service, which only runs as far as Brussels.
At around 3.30pm, three and a half hours after the cancellations began, Eurostar said the tunnel had partially reopened and services would gradually resume, but the company warned passengers of further delays and longer journeys.
Priority on running services was given to passengers who made reservations on these trains instead of canceled trains.
Even if services have resumed, Eurostar has strongly advised passengers to postpone their journeys to a different date.
“If it is confirmed that your train is canceled, please do not come to the station,” it said.
“We regret that there will be serious delays and possible last-minute cancellations of trains that can run.
“Please check live updates on your train’s status on the train status and schedules page.”
A New Zealand family planning a trip across Europe said the chaos had turned their travel plans into “an absolute nightmare”.
Talea Uluakiola, who will visit Paris, then Brussels, Amsterdam and Germany, said: “They didn’t tell us it was canceled for about two hours and they weren’t very helpful to us.
“There was no help from staff; they just ushered us out and said ‘you need to click on your app’ but there’s no room anywhere.”
They said their European tour was now canceled and their hotel in Paris would not give them refunds.
“So yeah, it’s an absolute nightmare,” he added.
“We’re tired, we’re pretty desperate, we don’t know what to do or where to go, and we can’t get any help from the staff.”
A family hoping to spend New Year’s Eve at Disneyland said the cancellation of services was “an absolute disaster”.
Charles Nduka-Eze, a Nigerian, was on a train from London to Paris with his family at around 7am when the train turned around and returned to London.
Eurostar said 30 trains had been canceled by 17.30. Independent An estimated 25,000 passengers had their plans torn up.
Some drivers and passengers queuing for LeShuttle in Folkestone complained about a lack of information as vehicles were still allowed into the terminal.
Shadow transport secretary Richard Holden said rail authorities must ensure passengers are appropriately compensated.
A Department for Transport spokesman said: “Eurotunnel is working with operators to restart some services as repairs to overhead power cables in the Channel Tunnel continue, but significant disruption is likely for the remainder of the day.
“We are working with Eurotunnel, Eurostar and the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum to minimize disruption to passengers.”
LeShuttle has been contacted for comment.
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