The big new year getaway turned to chaos on Tuesday as an estimated 25,000 passengers were left stranded when Eurostar trains were cancelled without notice.
Services between London and Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam were suspended for hours at one of the busiest travel times of the year.
Some trains that had left King’s Cross St Pancras turned around en route and headed back to London – a round trip of five hours, finishing where the train had begun.
The issue was blamed on a problem with the overhead power supply in the Channel Tunnel and a broken-down train blocking the route.
Crowds of waiting passengers built up at St Pancras and Paris Gare du Nord stations. Many tried to switch to ferries but found they were fully booked.
EasyJet switched some of its aircraft for larger planes to accommodate extra passengers and put on an additional flight in each direction.
Hundreds of cars were trapped in queues for LeShuttle at Folkestone before the vehicle-train service to Calais started resuming about three hours after the disruption began.
Passengers were “strongly advised” not to go to London St Pancras.
The Independent’s travel correspondent Simon Calder counted 37 train cancellations in the first four hours of the chaos – 25 between London and Paris and a further dozen between London and Brussels.
Eurostar also curtailed a London-Amsterdam departure, which went as far only as Brussels.
At around 3.30pm, three and a half hours after the cancellations started, Eurostar said the tunnel was partially reopened and that services would gradually resume, but the company warned passengers of more delays and longer journeys.
On services that did run, priority was given to passengers booked on them rather than on trains that had been cancelled.
Even as services resumed, Eurostar strongly advised passengers to postpone their journey to a different date.
“Please don’t come to the station if your train is confirmed as cancelled,” it said.
“We regret that trains that can run will be subject to severe delays and possible last-minute cancellations.
“Please check for live updates on the status of your train on the train status and timetables page.”
A New Zealand family planning a trip across Europe said the chaos had turned their travel plans into an “absolute nightmare”.
Talea Uluakiola, who had been due to visit Paris then Brussels, Amsterdam and Germany, said: “They didn’t tell us it was cancelled for about sort of two hours and they really didn’t help us a lot.
“There was no help from the staff – they just basically shuffled us out and said, ’you need to click on your app’, but there’s no seats anywhere.”
He said their European tour was now up in the air, and their Paris hotel would not refund them.
“So, yeah, absolute nightmare,” he added.
“We’re tired, pretty despondent, we don’t know what to do or where to go, and there’s no help from the staff.”
A family hoping to spend the new year in Disneyland said it was a “complete disaster” when services were cancelled.
Charles Nduka-Eze, from Nigeria, was on a train with his family from London to Paris at around 7am before the train reversed and returned to London.
Eurostar said 30 trains had been cancelled by 5.30pm, while The Independent estimated 25,000 passengers had their plans torn up.
In the nose-to-tail queues for LeShuttle at Folkestone, some drivers and passengers complained of a lack of information as cars were still being allowed into the terminal.
Shadow transport secretary Richard Holden said rail authorities must ensure passengers were properly compensated.
A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said: “Eurotunnel is working with operators to resume some services while repairs to overhead electrical cables in the Channel Tunnel are ongoing. However, significant disruption is likely for the remainder of the day.
“We are working with Eurotunnel, Eurostar and the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum to minimise disruption for passengers.”
LeShuttle has been contacted for comment.
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