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Hundreds trapped in Eurotunnel for hours.

by gourley | February 3, 2009 at 05:12 am

471 views | 74 Recommendations | 12 comments

A Eurostar train from Gare du Nord to St Pancras broke down below the English Channel last night as the train suffered a catastrophic power failure. The passengers of the 1715 service were left without electricity meaning the carriages were without air conditioning and lighting for the majority of the journey.

The train came to a sudden stop leaving the passengers confused, and the Train Manager said only that there was an 'electrical fault with the train' and that another train would come to pull it out.

The passengers remained stranded and worried for an hour before the new train appeared, which slowly pulled the darkened train to England.

The train eventually reached Ashford station (Kent) where the passengers were transferred to a fully operational Eurostar train that finished the journey to St Pancras International, where the train and its tired occupants arrived at 0049 on Tuesday morning.

Eurostar announced that all passengers would be re-embersed for the journey as well as receiving a free return journey. Some passengers expressed how they 'never wanted to see another tunnel' and spoke how the journey will forever make them paranoid about train travel.

This incident created further delays for the Eurotunnel services which are still not fully operational following the fire on a truck that has resulted the closure of one of the tunnels last year.

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Rob Walker

at 06:27 on February 3rd, 2009

Karenke4

at 08:27 on February 3rd, 2009

This would be pretty frightening, especially for those of who may be a bit claustrophobic.

Dan Finnan

at 09:37 on February 3rd, 2009

Some 2,000 Eurostar cross-Channel rail passengers were stranded through the night in trains and stations due to heavy snowfall in northern France and Britain, the operator said Tuesday.

Two Paris-to-London trains and one London-to-Paris service were held up by between five and a half and seven hours, according to a spokeswoman for the high-speed rail operator.

No further details were immediately available.

The spokeswoman said the delays were caused by "extremely bad and exceptional weather conditions," and that passengers would be offered a full refund and a free journey by way of compensation.

Four trains scheduled for Tuesday were also cancelled because of the weather.

sara star

at 09:55 on February 3rd, 2009

I wonder what it would be like. Dark I am sure. They mentioned no air conditioning. But in the middle of winter would that matter? Or is it a matter of ventilation?

I wonder if it would be life changing for some? Like to hear some reports from the passengers themselves....

gourley

at 11:48 on February 3rd, 2009

well i was a passenger myself! and i can say, it was blooming boiling. for health and safety reasons the doors were not allowed to be opened, and eurostar windows dont open.. the train was ridiculously hot in the carriages with more people.

as a passenger all i can say is that i now never want to take that train again! ferry's all the way for me.

sara star

at 12:34 on February 3rd, 2009

Thanks for sharing. Great on site pics too. Frightening.

amyjudd

at 11:40 on February 3rd, 2009

How scary!

158

at 11:48 on February 3rd, 2009

I would not want to be stranded under the ocean.

harringtola

at 13:03 on February 3rd, 2009

I think I would have had a real hard time with this situation. Very scary.

Glossglamzenfly

at 15:40 on February 3rd, 2009

Terrifying! I've always been weary about the train from England to France. I'd rather fly (which i'm also not a fan of).

Jennings David L

at 16:09 on February 4th, 2009

This type of incident could be very scary, I'm sure I would have thought there was an attack soon to follow, or that water would be filling the tunnel any second. Sometimes it would be good to be able to turn off the imagination. Good report., particularly since you were there.