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Stranded Eurostar travelers finally moving after 3-day halt
Source: Agencies |
December 23, 2009, Wednesday
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EUROSTAR resumed its high-speed rail service linking Britain, France and Belgium yesterday after a three-day suspension that stranded thousands of holiday travelers and left French President Nicolas Sarkozy indignant.
The first train pulled out of the Gare du Nord station in Paris shortly after 8am, Paris time, carrying 750 passengers, many of whom had been stranded for days. Hundreds of others waited in a line that stretched across the cavernous train station, as Eurostar staff circulated with trays of pastries and coffee in paper cups.
Terminal manager Nelly Clair-Meunier said people who were supposed to travel over the weekend were being given priority on yesterday's trains, which were expected to leave hourly throughout most of the day. That represented about two-thirds of the day's regularly scheduled trains, she said.
Claire Morley, a 23-year-old student from Paris, said she and her traveling companion had been waiting since 5:30am. "It's supposed to be a pleasurable trip, just a little holiday," Morley said of her planned three-day stay in London. "It's not starting off on such a relaxing note, though," she said as she boarded the day's first train.
Eurostar officials said they had identified the problem that caused trains to break down in the Channel Tunnel - unusually dry, powdery snow that got into the engines.
As many as 40,000 people were affected by the suspension. Eurostar offered its "deepest apologies" and promised compensation.
Jennifer Eboule, another French student waiting in line at Gare du Nord, complained about Eurostar's overall handling of the incident.
"It's not like it never snowed before," said the 21-year-old. "It's hard to understand how something like that could cause such a big problem."
President Sarkozy summoned the head of France's SNCF rail operator into the Elysee Palace on Monday for a one-on-one meeting and ordered him to get the Eurostar moving again, saying the situation was "unacceptable for travelers."
Problems started on Friday after five trains failed inside the Channel Tunnel, trapping more than 2,000 passengers for hours in stuffy and claustrophobic conditions. Exhausted, sometimes teary-eyed passengers appeared in British and French TV broadcasts complaining that they had been left underground for more than 15 hours, without food, water or any clear idea of what was going on.
The first train pulled out of the Gare du Nord station in Paris shortly after 8am, Paris time, carrying 750 passengers, many of whom had been stranded for days. Hundreds of others waited in a line that stretched across the cavernous train station, as Eurostar staff circulated with trays of pastries and coffee in paper cups.
Terminal manager Nelly Clair-Meunier said people who were supposed to travel over the weekend were being given priority on yesterday's trains, which were expected to leave hourly throughout most of the day. That represented about two-thirds of the day's regularly scheduled trains, she said.
Claire Morley, a 23-year-old student from Paris, said she and her traveling companion had been waiting since 5:30am. "It's supposed to be a pleasurable trip, just a little holiday," Morley said of her planned three-day stay in London. "It's not starting off on such a relaxing note, though," she said as she boarded the day's first train.
Eurostar officials said they had identified the problem that caused trains to break down in the Channel Tunnel - unusually dry, powdery snow that got into the engines.
As many as 40,000 people were affected by the suspension. Eurostar offered its "deepest apologies" and promised compensation.
Jennifer Eboule, another French student waiting in line at Gare du Nord, complained about Eurostar's overall handling of the incident.
"It's not like it never snowed before," said the 21-year-old. "It's hard to understand how something like that could cause such a big problem."
President Sarkozy summoned the head of France's SNCF rail operator into the Elysee Palace on Monday for a one-on-one meeting and ordered him to get the Eurostar moving again, saying the situation was "unacceptable for travelers."
Problems started on Friday after five trains failed inside the Channel Tunnel, trapping more than 2,000 passengers for hours in stuffy and claustrophobic conditions. Exhausted, sometimes teary-eyed passengers appeared in British and French TV broadcasts complaining that they had been left underground for more than 15 hours, without food, water or any clear idea of what was going on.
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