Skip to main content

Channel Tunnel power malfunction fixed, but rail delays linger

PARIS (AP) — Trains were running again Wednesday in both directions through the Channel Tunnel between continental Europe and the United Kingdom but problems remained after a day of travel chaos caused by power malfunctions.

The tunnel operator, Eurotunnel, said the 50-kilometer (32-mile) undersea link was back to “full capacity” after a power fault inside it was fixed overnight Tuesday. The short statement didn’t detail the cause of the power failure.

But Eurostar, which runs passenger trains through the tunnel, warned of continued possible delays and cancellations because of “knock-on impacts” from the severe disruptions on Tuesday. Its website showed delays Wednesday to London-Paris, London-Brussels and London-Amsterdam trains in both directions and early morning cancellations.

Tuesday’s hours-long interruption of cross-Channel train services and a resulting cascade of cancellations upended travelers’ end-of-year getaway plans and provoked scrambles for flights and buses.

Another power malfunction Tuesday on the U.K. side that Eurostar said was related to the electrical fault inside the tunnel also caused severe delays for passengers aboard three trains, Eurostar said.

It said an overhead power cable fell onto a Eurostar train from London to Paris, near the tunnel entrance, and that an effort to move the train with its passengers inside proved “very complex.” The power failure also caused severe delays to two trains to Brussels, Eurostar said.

Passenger Ghislain Planque told French broadcaster BFMTV that his Eurostar journey Tuesday evening from London to France was meant to take just under 90 minutes but instead took around 11 hours, with passengers stuck overnight in the train that had only intermittent power.

“We were left without electricity, so with no heating, no air-conditioning, no possibility to charge phones,” he said. “We were in total darkness for some of the time.”

UK firefighters out in force to tackle fires on hottest day of the year

LONDON (AP) — Firefighters were tackling multiple fires in central England on Thursday after the U.K. recorded its hottest day of the year as an intense stretch of hot weather continued to grip Europe. The wildfires across the West Midlands, which saw several houses burned to the ground, have been “one of the most significant” incidents the region’s fire service has ever dealt with, chief fire officer Simon Tuhill said. A child and three firefighters were taken to the hospital following the wildfire in Stourbridge. West Midlands mayor Richard Parker described the “multiple fires across our region” as an “extremely worrying and fast-moving situation."
Read Next Story