Accessibility links

Breaking News

Eurostar to Resume Service Sunday After Flooding Halts Trains for a Day

update

Passengers queue at the departure gates of the Eurostar terminal at Gare du Nord train station in Paris on Dec. 30, 2023, as flooding in a railway tunnel near London forced the cancellation of more than a dozen trains linking Britain with the European mainland.
Passengers queue at the departure gates of the Eurostar terminal at Gare du Nord train station in Paris on Dec. 30, 2023, as flooding in a railway tunnel near London forced the cancellation of more than a dozen trains linking Britain with the European mainland.

Eurostar trains will run as normal on Sunday, the company said, hours after an entire day's service had to be canceled, causing misery for tens of thousands of New Year travelers.

Saturday's disruption left some travelers in tears as they arrived at London's St. Pancras Station to discover that two flooded tunnels in southern England had blocked the high-speed rail line to the continent.

Other travelers were left stranded in mainland Europe.

High Speed 1, which runs the railway line, had warned that the volume of water in the tunnels was unprecedented and would take time to clear.

But later Saturday, Eurostar announced that service would run as scheduled on Sunday as "at least one tunnel can now be used."

"We're able to confirm that we'll be running our planned timetable tomorrow," the company posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. "Our stations will be extremely busy due to today's disruption."

Dismayed Eurostar passengers earlier described their disappointment as their New Year plans were left in tatters by the cancellations, which affected an estimated 30,000 people.

Newlyweds Nicole Carrera, 29, and her husband, Christopher, 31, visiting from New York, said their plans to spend New Year's Eve at Disneyland Paris had been ruined.

Australians Christina David, 25, and Georgina Benyamin, 26, from Sydney, had planned to make Paris their final stop in Europe before flying home.

David said she felt "frustrated, angry, sad," adding that "there were lots of people crying" and that they had nowhere to stay.

Eurostar runs from London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.

The service was canceled after the flooding occurred near Ebbsfleet International station in Kent.

Simon Shaw, 36, and his wife, Heather, 37, from central England, were to travel to the French Alps for a skiing holiday with friends and family.

"We just arrived and saw everything was canceled this morning ... it was chaos," Simon Shaw said.

The chaos topped off a tough year for U.K. travelers thanks to strikes, storms and other problems.

Travelers to France in April waited up to 16 hours at Dover because of a larger-than-expected number of travelers and weather conditions.

In August, flights to and from the U.K. were hit by a technical fault affecting air traffic control systems, while in November Storm Ciaran canceled ferry crossings and flights.

More than a year of walkouts by rail workers over pay and working conditions amid a cost-of-living crisis has also hit travelers.

Although the RMT rail union last month said its members had voted in favor of a pay deal, the Aslef union, which represents drivers, has yet to come to an agreement.

Eurostar is owned 55.75% by French state-owned SNCF Voyageurs.

It almost went bankrupt during the COVID-19 pandemic but was saved with a 290 million euro bailout from shareholders including the French government.

XS
SM
MD
LG