Channel Tunnel train services resume

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 18 Januari 2015 | 15.36

18 January 2015 Last updated at 08:25

Train services have resumed through the Channel Tunnel, after a fire caused it to be closed for most of Saturday.

Eurotunnel said its vehicle and freight train services restarted from the UK at 02:45 GMT after "residue smoke" was cleared from one of the tunnels.

Passenger train operator Eurostar said services between London and mainland Europe would resume on Sunday morning.

But the company has warned of delays of between 30 and 60 minutes because only one tunnel will be open.

Eurostar said a "full service" would run on Sunday for passengers who have "an existing reservation for this date".

People whose trains had been cancelled on Saturday should not arrive at stations on Sunday unless they have already re-booked, the company added.

The Eurostar website is showing seats are still available for travel this weekend.

Clearing backlog

Eurostar - which operates passenger services between Paris, London and Brussels - said 26 of its trains were cancelled on Saturday afternoon.

BBC News correspondent Andy Moore said hundreds of people were queuing at St Pancras, Eurostar's London terminus, on Sunday morning despite the advice not to travel to the station without rebooking.

He said an extra train from London to Paris was being laid on, with 800 seats available, in an attempt to ease the queues.

Despite the company organising re-bookings, accommodation and refunds, it could be Monday before the backlog is cleared, he added.

Some 12-15,000 Eurostar passengers were affected by the cancellations.

Eurotunnel said its trains from France began running again at 03:30 GMT.

The company added that it expected to operate a reduced Le Shuttle timetable, with two departures every two hours from both the UK and France. Its customers have been advised to check in as normal.

The alarm was raised when two CO2 detectors were triggered at 11:25 GMT on Saturday at the French end of the north tunnel.

Eurotunnel said a load on a lorry on board one of its trains, en route from the UK to France, had been "smouldering".

Passengers were safely evacuated from trains in the tunnel, and the fire "was quickly brought under control" by French emergency services, the company said.

Firefighters examined the site but a Eurotunnel spokesman said it did not look like there was any significant damage.

During the day however, at St Pancras station and in Paris, there were long queues of passengers after services were cancelled following the fire. At Folkestone, lines of lorries built up near the Eurotunnel entrance.

Eurotunnel had anticipated resuming services on Saturday night through its south tunnel, which was unaffected by the fire.

But in a tweet shortly before midnight, the company said it was "taking slightly longer than anticipated to recommence services, we need to be sure any residue smoke cleared completely before we do so".

Empty trains were sent through the tunnel to ensure it was clear and customers were offered transfers to ferries until the service recommenced, Eurotunnel said.

Eurotunnel trains

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Passenger Ben Lawton describes how his cabin filled with smoke

Eurostar said availability on trains was limited on Sunday for those wanting to rebook, but passengers who needed to travel urgently should contact its customer services, which would try to put them on services departing after 12:00 GMT.

Eurostar's customer care number is 03432 186 186, or +44 1777 777 878 for people outside the UK.

Eurotunnel's information line is +44 8444 63 00 00.

Were you due to travel by Eurostar this weekend? Has your journey been disrupted? You can email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with your experience.

Please include a telephone number if you are willing to be contacted by a BBC journalist.

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