FRANCE/ENGLAND: EUROSTAR PASSENGERS FACE DISCRUPTION AS AUTHORITIES REPAIR LINES FOLLOWING HEAVY STORMS

Record ID: 640615

  • Title: FRANCE/ENGLAND: EUROSTAR PASSENGERS FACE DISCRUPTION AS AUTHORITIES REPAIR LINES FOLLOWING HEAVY STORMS
  • Date: 29th October 2002
  • Summary: SLATE INFORMATION (W4) PARIS, FRANCE (OCTOBER 29, 2002) (REUTERS) SLV EUROSTAR TRAINS AT GARE DU NORD CU OF RAILWAY NOTICEBOARD SHOWING CANCELLED SERVICES SLV/SV PASSENGERS LOOKING AT NOTICEBOARD/ CROWD OF TRAVELLERS GETTING INFORMATION FROM EUROSTAR OFFICIAL (2 SHOTS) MCU (French) OLIVIA SAYING: "They're not giving us any alternatives, nor information. I've called them up this morning and they have been very unpleasant, which I didn't like much. And then I came here. I have to go to England, and I haven't got any choice, I have to take the plane. They say I will get a refund, but we'll see." CLOSE UP OF TICKETS SLV/SV PEOPLE WAITING AND GETTING INFORMATION FROM SNCF EMPLOYEES (2 SHOTS) MCU (English) ELISABETH SAYING: "Well as far as we know, it isn't the fault of Eurostar but the way that Eurostar has handled it has been pretty poor. We all came off the train after four hours, leaving Paris and coming back again last night. And there was just complete mayhem, all they could do was dish out boxes of emergency food. They told us on the train not to bother to book hotels and things, but fortunately we had done that, and we're lucky to be in a situation where we can do that. Because there were children around, people with broken legs, pregnant women, and students with no french, all sorts of nightmares for other people. But it's been really badly handled by Eurostar, there's no information given to us at all, we're all just standing around waiting." SLV WOMAN SITTING ON HER LUGGAGE AND WAITING SV INFORMATION BOARD READING NO EUROSTAR SERVICE TODAY
  • Embargoed: 13th November 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: PARIS, FRANCE / LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
  • City:
  • Country: United Kingdom France
  • Topics: Environment,Transport
  • Reuters ID: LVAYILAEKECED5TCRM7HSESH9E5
  • Story Text: Eurostar passengers face continued disruption as authorities repair lines following a power supply failure on a section of the line in France due to heavy storms over the weekend.
    Salt whipped from stormy seas onto railway lines paralysed Eurostar train traffic through the Channel Tunnel between France and Britain on Tuesday (October 28), stranding some 7,000 passengers.
    A spokeswoman for SNCF in Paris said all trains were suspended until further notice, and passengers were advised to cancel their trips.
    Short-circuits on key power lines at the French entrance to the tunnel on the northern French coastal town of Calais has halted trains between London and Paris, as well as London and Brussels, which all pass through Calais.
    Salt crystallised on key rail lines and equipment, cutting the electricity, and four of the six trains have been sent back to the stations they departed from in Lille, London and the Belgian capital, Brussels.
    Some passengers complained about the lack of information, and organisation.
    "They're not giving us any alternatives, nor information.
    I've called them up this morning and they have been very unpleasant, which I didn't like much. And then I came here. I have to go to England, and I haven't got any choice, I have to take the plane. They say I will get a refund, but we'll see,"
    said a passenger.
    Elisabeth, another passenger said that the problem was badly handled by Eurostar and that it was a complete chaos.
    "Well as far as we know, it isn't the fault of Eurostar but the way that Eurostar has handled it has been pretty poor.
    We all came off the train after four hours, leaving Paris and coming back again last night. And there was just complete mayhem, all they could do was dish out boxes of emergency food. They told us on the train not to bother to book hotels and things, but fortunately we had done that, and we're lucky to be in a situation where we can do that. Because there were children around, people with broken legs, pregnant women, and students with no french, all sorts of nightmares for other people. But it's been really badly handled by Eurostar, there's no information given to us at all, we're all just standing around waiting," she said.
    Between 300 and 400 train passengers were put up in hotels overnight (Monday October 28), but many were forced to sleep on the trains, as it was impossible to accommodate all at such short notice.
    The sea salt crystallised on key rail lines and equipment at the mouth of the sub-sea rail tunnel after storms and winds of up to 183 kph (114 mph) that struck much of northern Europe on Sunday, killing at least 33 people.
    Eurostar traffic through Calais was halted from around
    30 p.m. (1730 GMT) on Monday (October 28). There was an attempt to resume services at 6.00 a.m. (0500 GMT) on Tuesday (October 29), but the power short circuited, and service was halted once again.
    According to a normal timetable, Eurostar trains run roughly once an hour between Paris and London, and back, stopping for the night, and less frequently to Brussels.
    Eurostar passenger trains are operated by railways of France and Britain and a British consortium including British Airways Plc and bus company National Express Group Plc.
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