Eurostar chaos: Travel chaos as hundreds left stranded after London-Paris train breaks down in Channel Tunnel
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Hundreds of passengers faced festive travel misery after a Eurostar train broke down in the Channel Tunnel leaving them stuck for two-and-a-half hours. The first train of the day left St Pancras International on time at 6.01am but ground to a halt around 7am. Passengers were eventually taken to Calais Fréthun station to await a replacement train with an expected arrival in Paris at 3.20pm - six hours behind schedule.
Television producer Gaby Koppel told The Independent: "We stopped in the tunnel about an hour into the journey so roughly 7am UK time. “There were occasional loudspeaker announcements saying they did not know what the fault was. Eventually they said at 9am that we would get going 'in 20 minutes' but we are still here. Some of the lighting in the carriage has been switched down but it has become very stuffy in the carriage.".
The breakdown has caused widespread disruption to other services. Trains in both directions face delays after the tunnel switched to single-bore operations. Arrivals at London St Pancras from Paris Brussels and Amsterdam are running between 30 and 70 minutes late.
A Eurostar spokesperson said: "The 6.01am Eurostar service from London to Paris experienced a technical issue this morning while travelling through the Channel Tunnel. Once safety investigations were completed the train ran at reduced speed to Calais where customers were transferred to another Eurostar train and are now continuing their journey to Paris.".
