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Passengers were left stranded overnight on a Eurostar train after major disruptions forced the cancellation of large sections of the London–Europe rail network on Tuesday.
Francis Collings said his Eurostar service from St Pancras to Paris came to an abrupt stop near Folkestone at around 9.15pm. By approximately 11pm, power on the train was shut off, leaving only dim lighting and causing toilet facilities to stop working properly.
Six hours later, the train remained stationary, with passengers unclear about what would happen next. According to Mr Collings, passengers were told there may have been a fault either in the Channel Tunnel or with one of the train carriages, and that locomotives might be required to clear other stranded trains from the line.
He praised train staff for their efforts, saying they were attentive and distributed water and chocolate, but added that even staff appeared uncertain about the situation.
‘Information vacuum’
Mr Collings, a Paris-based freelance journalist, said communication from Eurostar had been poor, both at St Pancras station and onboard the train.
He described scenes at the London terminal as chaotic, with staff shouting announcements to dense crowds that were difficult to hear. Updates since then had been infrequent and confusing, leaving passengers unsure about the cause of the fault, their destination, or how long the delay would last.
Passengers initially felt fortunate that their 7pm service had not been cancelled. The train eventually departed at 8.45pm but halted roughly half an hour later. As of 3.30am on Wednesday, it was still stuck.
Passengers had not been informed whether the train would proceed to Paris or return to London once movement resumed. Despite the ordeal, Mr Collings said morale onboard remained relatively positive.
More disruption expected
Eurostar travellers are preparing for further delays and cancellations following widespread service suspensions on Tuesday. Both Eurostar and Le Shuttle services were halted for much of the day due to a power supply failure and a broken-down Le Shuttle blocking routes through the Channel Tunnel.
The disruption severely affected New Year travel plans for thousands of passengers across London, Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam during one of the busiest travel periods of the year.
Repair work is ongoing, but Eurostar warned passengers to avoid travelling as services resumed only gradually from Tuesday afternoon. By early Wednesday morning, several early departures to Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam remained cancelled, while Le Shuttle passengers were experiencing delays of over an hour.
