Eurostar Limited Service To Resume Tuesday After Breakdowns

by amyellensoden | December 21, 2009 at 10:28 am

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Eurostar rail line will reportedly be resuming some of its services by Tuesday. Many services will resume after French President Nicolas Sarkozy reportedly urged the rail line to get their systems back up and running. Sarkozy called for action to be taken during a meeting with the president of SNCF, a primary French rail operator. Limited service will hopefully resume on Tuesday after the numerous breakdowns that left thousands stranded over the weekend.

Pressure from the French government, particularly President Sarkozy, spurred the rail line's teams to get services fixed. There is already a formal inquiry being made into the massive technical shutdown that occurred, leaving thousands of people stranded and unable to get home just days before Christmas. If testing goes well today, up to two thirds of Eurostar's services could resume by Tuesday.

Eurostar said it is conducting test runs with a modification of its engines that, if successful, will allow trains to begin running again Tuesday. Seats for 26,000 passengers will be available Tuesday, Eurostar said. The popular service was suspended for the third day Monday, and ticket sales have been suspended through Friday, Christmas Day, as officials try to resolve the problems that brought about the service's worst shutdown ever.

The initial problems are said to have occurred due to the contrast in the cold snowy weather versus the warm and humid air inside the tunnel. Snow apparently made its way through the ventilatiion grilles in the trains, effectively getting through the shields of the engines.

Service disruptions were still occurring earlier today on car and freight services running through the Channel Tunnel. Day passengers are advised not to travel today if they can avoid it due to the continuing difficulties with the cold weather conditions.