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Eurostar cancels all trains to and from London after Channel Tunnel power cut - THE GUARDIAN UK
All Eurostar trains to and from St Pancras International have been suspended, after a power outage which has affected all trains using the Channel tunnel.
A Eurostar spokesperson confirmed all its services had been halted until further notice, and declined to say when trains would begin running again.
Queues of cars and lorries are forming at Folkestone, where the LeShuttle trains, which carry cars and freight vehicles, also appear to be blocked. The operator has told passengers to expect “severe delays”.
Channel tunnel trains carry tens of thousands of passengers and vehicles a day during the Christmas season.
In a notice posted on its website, the Eurostar operator said: “Due to a problem with the overhead power supply in the Channel tunnel and a subsequent failed LeShuttle train, we strongly advise all our passengers to postpone their journey to a different date. Please don’t come to the station unless you already have a ticket to travel.”
A statement on the LeShuttle website said: “We are experiencing severe disruptions to our service due to an overhead power supply issue; services are delayed.
“We’re working hard to resolve this. Thank you for understanding.”
All Eurostar trains from Paris to London that are en route are marked as delayed, while delays from London to Paris are multiplying. The company’s live travel updates showed the 7.01am service that left St Pancras International this morning was running four hours late.
The Port of Dover has said that ferry operators running between Dover and Calais have capacity for extra passengers looking for alternative routes, according to a BBC report.
The east coast mainline train company LNER said that “any customers who have had to abandon their journey in London King’s Cross are able to return to their home station on the next available LNER service at no additional cost”.
LNER customers who choose to defer their Eurostar travel to a different day may use their existing LNER ticket to travel on that same day, it added.
