EPAEurostar passengers are bracing for further disruption after a power outage in the Channel Tunnel disrupted travel for thousands of people on Tuesday.
While people were rushing to attend New Year’s festivities, some travelers said they were stuck on trains for more than six hours overnight due to delays.
One man told the BBC he boarded the 19:01 train to Paris but was still stuck on the train at the tunnel entrance as of 03:00 GMT.
He said staff told him “there’s a 50% chance we’ll go to Paris and a 50% chance we’ll go back to London.”
“I think my New Year’s plans are now in the hands of the tunnel operators,” the 27-year-old Parisian said.
Eurostar plans to run all services on Wednesday but warned there could still be some delays and cancellations.
The London to Paris service scheduled for 06:00 GMT has been cancelled.
Overhead power supply problems and a broken LeShuttle train blocked all routes Tuesday, causing chaos for thousands of people trying to travel for New Year’s Eve.
Some Eurostar and LeShuttle services resumed Tuesday evening, but delays continued, with only one of the tunnel’s two rail lines open.
Getlink, which operates the Channel Tunnel, said work to fix the power problem continued overnight.
An update on the Eurostar website on Wednesday morning read: “Services have resumed today due to power problems in the Channel Tunnel yesterday and further problems with rail infrastructure overnight.
“We plan to operate all services today, but further impacts may still result in delays or last-minute cancellations.
“Check out our Train Status and Timetables page for real-time updates on train status.”
Dennis van der Steen, from the Netherlands, was heading home to Amsterdam to spend New Year’s Eve with family and friends.
Instead, he said he spent six hours stuck on a Eurostar train before the train started moving again around 03:00 GMT.
“We are stuck,” he told the BBC.
He said there was no power on the train when it stopped, some passengers were sleeping and others were “very worried”. He was later told that his train would continue its journey.
Another passenger described feeling a “rollercoaster of emotions” for hours as he did not know whether the train he was on would be able to continue across the Channel or return to London.
His train eventually arrived in Brussels, he added. “I’m happy to be home and see so many families stranded.”
Social media has been flooded with photos of scores of travelers stranded at London St Pancras International following a power outage on Tuesday.
Photos shared with the BBC by a Eurostar train driver showed overhead electrical cables scattered across the track.
Meanwhile, vehicles hoping to use the Channel Tunnel caused traffic delays near Le Shuttle terminal in Folkestone.
Tim Brown, who was trying to return to the UK after spending Christmas in Germany, told the PA news agency he had been trapped in a car on a Le Shuttle train for more than three hours and had “no access to food or water”.
At least a dozen Eurostar services between the UK, France, Belgium and the Netherlands were canceled by noon on Tuesday.
The rail operator apologized and said passengers could change their plans or cancel their reservations free of charge and receive a refund or e-voucher.
On Tuesday, Eurostar urged customers to “rebook their travel for another day, if possible, when a free exchange can be made.”
“We also advise customers not to come to our stations if their train has already been cancelled.”
