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Eurostar Train Stranded in Kent: No Heat, Light or Food

by Amy Judd | December 19, 2009 at 03:31 pm

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A Eurostar Train has become stranded in Kent tonight and there is no heat, light or food on board. The train has become stuck near Ebbsfleet in Kent when the train was coming from Paris to London.

Earlier, 2,000 people were stuck on five Eurostar trains for up to 16 hours, but passengers who are on board this train say that staff cannot tell them when they are going to get to London St. Pancras.

This train was part of the special Eurostar trains that the company was running to transport 'vulnerable passengers' between London and Paris until normal service can resume. The train broke down when it suffered an electrical failure due to freezing temperatures.

All services have now been scrapped for Sunday. Some test trains will run but no passengers will be able to travel on the Eurostar.

A Eurostar spokesman said: When you have severe cold and snow even if you are operating within speed restrictions, which we were yesterday afternoon and evening, you do get a build-up of snow under and around the train and when you enter the tunnel you get water and at the end of the day these are electric trains."

Police in the UK have urged anyone who doesn't have to travel on the roads or the trains to please refrain from doing so and to stay home.

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caj1

at 16:45 on December 19th, 2009

Just to confirm, it's the combination of cold weather above and the normalized temperatures of the tunnel underground (underwater) that create these problems.