Passenger misery as Channel tunnel remains closed

Posted September 12, 2008 21:21:00

Travellers between Britain and France face another day of misery as the Channel tunnel remains closed after a fierce fire, with many still struggling to make alternative arrangements.

While the blaze was rapidly brought under control, British and French firefighters battled all night before finally extinguishing it.

At London's St Pancras station many passengers arrived hoping to take the Eurostar to Paris despite Thursday's fire (local time), complaining of mixed messages from tunnel operators.

"We checked the website last night around 9:00pm. It just said delays are expected, but it didn't say anything about cancelled services," said Kirsty McIntyre, 28, struggling to get to France for a weekend with friends.

"So we came today and it's not happening. We're trying to figure out our options. We're going to see if we can get a bus to Dover and a ferry to Calais. It was a bit confusing - you get one message from the website last night and another message here."

The fire erupted Thursday afternoon on a freight train about five kilometres from the French end of the tunnel, forcing the evacuation of some 30 people, mostly truckers.

Many passengers were forced to spend an extra night in London or Paris as flights between the two cities quickly became fully booked, while ferries were also in heavy demand.

On Friday morning the scene at St Pancras was still one of confusion.

"I heard the announcement in the Tube this morning that there was no service. When I heard it I didn't believe it," said Lithuanian Katia Nazmutdinova, 25, who was planning to travel to Paris for a trade show.

"They don't know if the service will be available tomorrow but the thing is, even if I come tomorrow I don't think I'm going to be able to use their train because I think all the tickets will be sold out."

On Friday morning there was still some confusion over how long it would take before Eurostar trains would resume travelling through the tunnel.

Eurotunnel chairman Jacques Gounon told French radio that some traffic could resume during the day, but minutes later French rail operator SNCF said Eurostar services would remain suspended.


Topics: road, accidents, rail, england, france, united-kingdom