(London) Eurostar announced on Saturday evening the normal resumption of the circulation of its trains on Sunday, after the flooding of two tunnels in the south of England interrupted traffic on Saturday, stranding around 30,000 passengers on New Year’s Eve. Year.
“We can confirm that we will keep the scheduled times tomorrow. Our stations will be crowded due to the traffic interruption today,” the company said on X (formerly Twitter).
In the afternoon, Eurostar announced on its website: “Due to flooding of a tunnel on the high-speed line near London, we have to cancel all our trains on our route to/from London on Saturday December 30.
PHOTO BELINDA JIAO, REUTERS
Hundreds of travelers trying to cross the Channel were left stranded at St Pancras station in London, after high-speed trains were canceled due to flooding of a tunnel under the River Thames.
According to a press release from the company, a subsidiary of the French company SNCF, 41 trains were canceled in total. This represents around 30,000 passengers, who found themselves stranded in London, Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam.
These cancellations come during one of the busiest weekends of the year.
Flooding in the tunnel between St Pancras International station, the Eurostar departure and arrival station in the British capital, and Ebbsfleet, in the south-east of England, “has not improved and train services cannot operate,” explained Eurostar.
The company said it was “extremely sorry”. Customers are asked to go to the website to “find out the compensation they are eligible for”.
Eurostar initially announced the cancellation of trains until 11 a.m. (Eastern time).
The British railway operator South Eastern Railway indicated on Saturday morning that the disruptions could last “until the end of the day”, which had not been confirmed by Eurostar.
“Flooding has occurred in both railway tunnels near Ebbsfleet International, which means that both tunnels are closed,” explains this railway company.
Bus, ferry
At Saint Pancras, in the middle of the day, thousands of passengers waited quietly, their phones in hand, hoping to be able to book a flight, a ferry or a hotel in London.
Geeske de Jong, a communications specialist, was supposed to take a train, with her husband and their three children, at 11:05 a.m. to Amsterdam, but it was canceled. “We are looking for a ferry because all the planes are full,” she explained to AFP.
“We have a party at our house tomorrow night, but we don’t know if we’ll be there! “, said this 40-year-old woman, smiling. “At least we had a good holiday in London!” »
“The trip was fun until today,” joked Isabella Sloan, a 17-year-old Australian, who is touring Europe with her parents and two sisters.
After a few days in London, the family was supposed to go to Paris, but their train was canceled. “We are trying to find a solution to reach Paris. Maybe the bus,” she explained.
“We have tickets reserved for the Palace of Versailles on Monday! Who knows if we’ll make it! », added Isabella Sloan.
The couple from New York, Nicole and Christopher Carrera, aged 29 and 31, wanted to spend the last day of 2023 at Disneyland in Paris. “Our plans fell through,” lamented Nicole.
However, they have a new ticket for Sunday and therefore hope to be able to walk the streets of Paris at the end of the day. But Eurostar did not say whether trains would run on Sunday.
Train operator Network Rail “continues to keep Eurostar informed of developments ahead of tomorrow,” Eurostar said.
On December 21, in the middle of the holiday departure period, Eurostar passengers were already faced with numerous train cancellations due to a surprise strike which paralyzed the Channel Tunnel.
A total of 30 trains were canceled that day, leaving thousands of travelers without a solution.
Eurostar traffic finally resumed on December 22.