Eurostar trains running again between London and mainland Europe
Thousands of travelers had previously been less fortunate, stranded in the London train station shortly before New Year's Eve on Saturday, some of whom did not know where to spend the night. The reason was the flooding of the railroad tunnels south of London as a result of heavy rainfall. As a result, all Eurostar journeys on Saturday had to be canceled.
This "ruined" the plans of newlyweds Nicole and Christopher Carrera from New York to celebrate New Year's Eve at Disneyland near Paris. "We won't be in Paris until around 6pm tomorrow evening," said 29-year-old Carrera at London's St. Pancras station on Saturday. They would then be walking through the French capital instead of Disneyland.
For another couple, Christina David and Georgina Benyamin from Sydney, Paris was to be their last stop in Europe before heading home. She was "disappointed, angry, sad", said David. Many people were crying.
The operating company Eurostar had announced on Saturday evening that train services would resume on Sunday. Previously, 41 trains had been canceled on Saturday due to a water leak in the tunnels between London's St. Pancras and Ebbsfleet Eurostar stations - on a day with extremely high passenger volumes due to the New Year celebrations. In the end, the company declared that "at least one tunnel" could be used and a "full service" could be offered. However, there were speed restrictions and therefore possible delays.
Long queues formed at London's St Pancras station on Sunday morning. Trains were shown to be on time, but loudspeakers warned of delays.
Around 30,000 passengers were stranded on Saturday in London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, the cities connected to London by the Eurostar. The operating company expressly regretted the impact on travelers so close to New Year's Eve. Eurostar is "extremely sorry" for this. The affected travelers should find out about compensation options.
The Met Office had warned of rain, snow and ice in large parts of the country.
It was the second disruption to train services to London under the English Channel in ten days. Following the end of an unannounced strike by French employees of tunnel operator Getlink shortly before Christmas, train services only resumed on Friday a week ago. Eurostar had to cancel 30 trains because of the strike.
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Source: www.stern.de
