Eurostar passengers have been warned to cancel or postpone their journeys this morning after delays and cancellations left the service in “total chaos”.
A huge cable theft near Lille, France, has caused severe disruption on the high-speed line in both directions between London and Paris, where hundreds of passengers are said to be waiting to board a train.
Today’s disruption comes after passengers faced long delays on Tuesday evening, when two people were hit by trains on the cross-Channel network. One customer claimed on social media that their disabled niece “had no choice to sleep on the floor of the train station” at Gare du Nord, Paris after their train to London was cancelled. “Her birthday holiday was ruined,” they added.
Passenger Matt Bould told The Independent he had driven all the way from Lyon to Paris to catch a train to England so he can attend Glastonbury Festival.
“My train was cancelled yesterday,” he said, adding he’d rebooked his journey only to have his train cancelled this morning. “There wasn’t a single flight out of Paris until the late evening for £250 and my coach to Glastonbury is leaving at 3pm from London. You can’t go to Glastonbury if you don’t hop on the coach assigned!”
Trains between London St Pancras International and Gare Du Nord in Paris have been either delayed or cancelled until 11.30am, with predicted delays ranging between 40 and 120 minutes.
No trains from London to Brussels have so far been cancelled, but delays are expected between 50 and 80 minutes. Delays from Brussels to London have increased sharply – with one departure, at 10.56am, expected to leave the Belgian capital 90 minutes late and arrive at St Pancras almost three hours behind schedule.
An alert on the Eurostar website on Wednesday read: “Due to a cable theft near Lille Europe, our trains are likely to be subject to severe delays and last-minute cancellations. We advise you to cancel or postpone your trip.”
One customer on Wednesday morning complained to the operator: “I can not change booking, train yesterday was cancelled and my elderly mother is stuck in Paris,” to which Eurostar apologised for the “total chaos due to 2 accidents involving people and a cable theft.”
A spokesperson for the operator apologised as they confirmed the disruption on Tuesday evening had been caused by two separate fatalities on the LGV Nord high-speed line between Lille and Paris.
“Our thoughts are with the families and friends of those who lost their lives,” they said. “The line was closed for much of the afternoon and evening, resulting in significant disruption to Eurostar services, including cancellations on routes to and from Paris. Trains on the London–Brussels–Amsterdam route continued to run with delays. Disruption is continuing today due to the knock-on impact of displaced trains and crew.”
They continued: “This morning, services have been further affected by an incident of cable theft on the same line near Lille. Trains are being re-routed via diversionary routes, which is leading to extended journey times.
“We’re very sorry for the continued disruption and the impact this is having on our customers. Our teams are working closely with the French authorities and infrastructure teams to manage the situation and restore services safely.
“Customers have been contacted directly with updates and available options. Water is being distributed onboard delayed trains, and station teams remain on hand to offer assistance. Affected customers can change their travel plans free of charge or request a full refund.”
Passengers took to social media to complain after facing hours of delays about how Eurostar had handled the disruption as photos on social media showed large queues at both railway stations on Tuesday.
One traveller said: “This was handled poorly, little communication, bad announcements for those of us stuck on trains with no food as sold out, no running water and a bad website to file a claim. I will never use this service again after the poor communication and experience.“
Another said: “It’s so sad. But maybe don’t charge 375 euros surge pricing to get a replacement ticket. There were 30 school children on the 19.01 train. And after 2 hours of waiting we were told hotels would be provided and a replacement train. It’s getting worse week by week”.
If you’ve been affected by the Eurostar delays, email your story to bryony.gooch.ind@independent.co.uk .
