Eurostar train stuck in tunnel
Source: Agencies |
January 8, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A EUROSTAR passenger train got stuck in the Channel Tunnel yesterday after developing a technical fault, the second time in three weeks that trains have broken down in freezing conditions.
The Brussels-London service was towed out of the tunnel linking France and England and its 200 passengers transferred to a waiting train to complete their journey.
A Eurostar spokesman said: "We are looking into it urgently to find out the cause. Our first priority was to evacuate the passengers and get them to their destination as quickly as possible."
He said there would be knock-on delays to services because of the breakdown, but no other trains had developed faults.
Long queues had built up at London's St Pancras International station after the breakdown, which came as northern Europe shivered in severe winter weather.
The breakdown follows a string of cancellations last month to Eurostar services and chaotic scenes at railway stations after melting snow halted trains.
Eurostar, owned by the French and Belgian state railways firms and by Britain, suspended all services for three days to find out what went wrong and to ensure trains ran safely.
Eurotunnel, the Channel Tunnel operator, earlier said the train had been stuck for at least an hour after experiencing "traction problems." It said it had sent a rescue unit to pull the train out.
A spokesman for Eurotunnel said all Eurostar services had been temporarily halted as a precaution, although shuttle services for cars and trucks were still operating.
December's stoppages stranded tens of thousands of passengers before the hectic Christmas period, ignited a major row over who was to blame for the chaos and even drew strong criticism from French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
An independent review into the disruption is due to report by the end of this month.
Eurostar said last month's electrical failure was caused by condensation when moving from cold air in northern France into the warmer tunnel.
Passengers were trapped in trains in the tunnel for hours.
The Brussels-London service was towed out of the tunnel linking France and England and its 200 passengers transferred to a waiting train to complete their journey.
A Eurostar spokesman said: "We are looking into it urgently to find out the cause. Our first priority was to evacuate the passengers and get them to their destination as quickly as possible."
He said there would be knock-on delays to services because of the breakdown, but no other trains had developed faults.
Long queues had built up at London's St Pancras International station after the breakdown, which came as northern Europe shivered in severe winter weather.
The breakdown follows a string of cancellations last month to Eurostar services and chaotic scenes at railway stations after melting snow halted trains.
Eurostar, owned by the French and Belgian state railways firms and by Britain, suspended all services for three days to find out what went wrong and to ensure trains ran safely.
Eurotunnel, the Channel Tunnel operator, earlier said the train had been stuck for at least an hour after experiencing "traction problems." It said it had sent a rescue unit to pull the train out.
A spokesman for Eurotunnel said all Eurostar services had been temporarily halted as a precaution, although shuttle services for cars and trucks were still operating.
December's stoppages stranded tens of thousands of passengers before the hectic Christmas period, ignited a major row over who was to blame for the chaos and even drew strong criticism from French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
An independent review into the disruption is due to report by the end of this month.
Eurostar said last month's electrical failure was caused by condensation when moving from cold air in northern France into the warmer tunnel.
Passengers were trapped in trains in the tunnel for hours.
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