The flooding of a tunnel near London forced the cancellation on Saturday of all trains linking Great Britain with the European continent, reported the international railway operator Eurostar, complicating the end-of-year trip for thousands of passengers.
“Eurostar services to and from London are being canceled (…) due to infrastructure problems caused by flooding in one of the Thames tunnels located between St Pancras International and Ebbsfleet,” the company initially said, canceling 14 trains.
Cancellations then reached 41, in the second blow for Eurostar customers during this year’s holidays.
Eurostar operates trains that link the United Kingdom with continental Europe through the Eurotunnel, leaving thousands of passengers stranded in the British capital, as well as in Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.
On December 21, a surprise strike in France thwarted the Christmas travel plans of thousands of people.
The problem originated on the night of Friday to Saturday, when water from a pipe that feeds the fire safety system began to overflow and flood the tunnels next to Ebbsfleet International station, east of London.
Some areas of England have suffered torrential rain in recent days and in the south of the country there is an official “yellow alert” for strong winds.
Television images showed water gushing into one of the tunnels and covering the tracks, while thousands of passengers were involved in scenes of chaos at London’s St. Pancras station, where Eurostar trains depart and arrive, in a day when many families had planned to travel to spend New Year’s Eve in another country or return home after spending a few holidays in the United Kingdom.
Eurostar will resume operations but with delays
After hours of chaos, Eurostar said that the flooding was “unprecedented,” but it was controlled in such a way that services could be resumed this Sunday, although it warned of possible delays and speed limitations.
“We can confirm that tomorrow we will operate our planned schedule. Our stations are extremely busy due to today’s interruption,” the company said on its social networks, while offering passengers to change the date of their trips.
In a statement, he explained that the company responsible for maintenance, Network Rail, managed to ensure that “at least one tunnel can now be used and a full service can be operated.”