Sarkozy demands Eurostar services start again today
Source: Agencies |
December 22, 2009, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered the head of the French train authority to get Channel Tunnel passenger traffic moving again by today.
A Eurostar chief said yesterday he was confident two-thirds of the trains would be running.
Sarkozy called in the president of the French train authority and told him to present measures to ensure that such incidents "unacceptable for travelers, do not recur."
Eurostar, the only rail link between Britain and continental Europe, suspended traffic between Paris and London pending tests to determine what caused five trains to get stuck inside the Channel Tunnel last Friday. More than 2,000 people were trapped for several hours.
Yesterday, Sarkozy called in SNCF President Guillaume Pepy and ordered him to get traffic moving. The SNCF has a majority stake in Eurostar.
Eurostar head of operations Nicolas Petrovic said he was confident of a partial return to service today.
"I hope for two out of three trains by tomorrow morning," he said yesterday.
The shutdown hit holiday travel plans, affecting 40,000 people, Petrovic said.
The operations manager blamed the problem on very dry snow that was sucked into the locomotives and then turned to condensation, which caused the trains' electrical circuits to fail. More snow is forecast for today in Calais, where the train ducks into the tunnel on the French side of the Channel.
French Transport Minister Dominique de Bussereau called the situation "unacceptable" and promised a thorough investigation.
"We cannot imagine that this mode of transport, which is fundamental between France and England, between England and Belgium and the rest of continental Europe doesn't work because it's snowing outside," Bussereau said, speaking from Beijing where he is on an official visit.
Ecology Minister Jean-Louis Borloo also lashed out at Eurostar, calling the situation "absolutely unbelievable."
He added he was upset with the company's treatment of passengers throughout the incident.
"You can't treat people like that, without information," he said.
A Eurostar chief said yesterday he was confident two-thirds of the trains would be running.
Sarkozy called in the president of the French train authority and told him to present measures to ensure that such incidents "unacceptable for travelers, do not recur."
Eurostar, the only rail link between Britain and continental Europe, suspended traffic between Paris and London pending tests to determine what caused five trains to get stuck inside the Channel Tunnel last Friday. More than 2,000 people were trapped for several hours.
Yesterday, Sarkozy called in SNCF President Guillaume Pepy and ordered him to get traffic moving. The SNCF has a majority stake in Eurostar.
Eurostar head of operations Nicolas Petrovic said he was confident of a partial return to service today.
"I hope for two out of three trains by tomorrow morning," he said yesterday.
The shutdown hit holiday travel plans, affecting 40,000 people, Petrovic said.
The operations manager blamed the problem on very dry snow that was sucked into the locomotives and then turned to condensation, which caused the trains' electrical circuits to fail. More snow is forecast for today in Calais, where the train ducks into the tunnel on the French side of the Channel.
French Transport Minister Dominique de Bussereau called the situation "unacceptable" and promised a thorough investigation.
"We cannot imagine that this mode of transport, which is fundamental between France and England, between England and Belgium and the rest of continental Europe doesn't work because it's snowing outside," Bussereau said, speaking from Beijing where he is on an official visit.
Ecology Minister Jean-Louis Borloo also lashed out at Eurostar, calling the situation "absolutely unbelievable."
He added he was upset with the company's treatment of passengers throughout the incident.
"You can't treat people like that, without information," he said.
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