Eurostar passengers brace for further disruption after day of cancellations

Eurostar passengers are braced for more possible delays and cancellations after the train network was forced to cancel large parts of its London-Europe service on Tuesday.

Train services to and from continental Europe - on both Eurostar and Le Shuttle - were suspended for much of the day after a power supply failure due to a technical fault and a failed Le Shuttle blocking all routes.

The disruption upended New Year's plans for thousands of passengers in London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam during ⁠one of the busiest travel weeks of the year.

Repairs are under way to try to fix the issue.

Eurostar said it was resuming some of its services gradually around 3pm on Tuesday, but passengers were urged to stay away.

The train operator told passengers: "As the overhead power supply issues in the Channel Tunnel still remain, only one line is available to run trains on.

"This means there will continue to be delays and longer journey times than usual this evening.

"Therefore, we continue to advise our customers to rebook their journey for another day if possible, with free exchanges available.

"We also advise customers not to come to our stations if their trains have already been cancelled."

It added: "Although outside of our control, we apologise for the disruption today and will continue to keep customers updated with the latest information and support them with rescheduling their bookings."

Getlink, which operates the tunnel infrastructure, said repairs to the power supply were under way and that traffic services were slowly being restored in both directions.

"Our teams are working to restore the situation as quickly as possible. Waiting times will be adjusted throughout the day," the company added.

"Eurotunnel apologises for the inconvenience and thanks its customers for their patience and understanding."

The Channel Tunnel accommodates Eurostar services as well as LeShuttle vehicle-carrying trains between the UK and France.

Read more:
Passengers' rights after Channel Tunnel disruption
Families devastated over ruined New Year trips

Among those affected was cancer patient Ethlyn Buckmire, who had spent £3,500 on her son's dream 10th birthday trip to Disneyland, only for their train to be turned away at the Channel Tunnel.

Ms Buckmire told Sky News she did not take out travel insurance because her cancer diagnosis made the premiums too expensive.

"We are going to try and go home and salvage the rest of the holiday season and try and celebrate his birthday some other way," she said, "but to be honest, I don't have the energy, I really don't. We were so looking forward to that trip."

Another family, from Nigeria, faced being "stranded" in London without a hotel after their Paris-bound train was also turned back.