Passengers stranded for more than FIVE hours after London-bound Eurostar train ‘gets stuck on tracks'
Angry travellers took to social media today, claiming they were left without help and working toilets for hours.
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Others complained that the lack of air con and ventilation on stifling trains was taking its toll on passengers.
The train is believed to be stuck by Guines which is close to Calais.
One passenger told of paramedics onboard, treating people who have become unwell.
The operator said in a statement to one traveller: "We're sending a replacement train to take you to London, which should arrive shortly. You'll need to leave the train.
"For your own safety, please remain seated for now and wait for instructions from our onboard team."
Meanwhile, a quick-thinking band was filmed serenading stranded passengers to try and lift the spirits after a day of travel chaos.
The moving video was uploaded to X, formerly Twitter, and showed the band singing a tune called 'Home'.
Passengers from the Eurostar were seen sitting on the gravel as they enjoyed a moment of respite.
One passenger claimed on Twitter that they had been stuck " for three hours".
She added: "There is no air-conditioning, the toilets are overflowing and we have not had a single update from any member of staff in well over two hours.
"This is absolutely appalling.
"There are young children just trapped on here."
Another traveller onboard the stuck train echoed these concerns and said old and young people on the train appeared to not be doing well.
A third woman said she was with two "overheating" children, in a train with no toilets.
Eurostar has said they are working on "replacement trains", but the cause of the chaos today is unknown.
The lack of communication from the company has caused serious concern, with passenger Serge de Gheldere writing: "Almost 3h. Still no news, no air. This is not just an incident or bad luck.
"There is no plan. Instead of opening the doors and trusting the people, they only have one or two doors open and let people almost suffocate. There are asthma patients and infants on board."
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'There were babies and elderly people on board, the toilets weren't working, there was no electricity, no food or water available,' she said. 'That was just the first six hours and that's not even the whole of the madness. It was seven or eight hours that had passed when they started evacuating us off the train so we could get fresh air because there was people suffering.' Eurostar posted to X at 12.55pm - which Paisley says was more than three hours after they first got stranded - to inform passengers that they were 'sending a replacement train to take you to London, which should arrive around 1.30pm' local time. However, Paisley said no train arrived until 5pm this evening and that they did not depart until after 7pm local time - finally arriving in London just before 7.30pm BST, almost ten hours after they were scheduled to. While they were stuck on board, Paisley said toilets in carriages were overflowing. She said: 'People started trying to use the restroom and then it started overflowing so people couldn't go anymore. 'From what I heard - it wasn't on my carriage - there was a few cars that experienced overflowing of the toilets coming down the aisles. 'They kept telling us for hours and hours 'a train's coming in 10 minutes'. 'They even posted on X that a train would come at 1.30pm. But we have literally only just left now and it's 7.30pm. And the train didn't even arrive until around 5pm'. She also said Eurostar were initially charging passengers for water before they began to steal bottles because they were so dehydrated. Paisley added: 'In the first six or seven hours they were asking people to pay for the café items while we were stranded. Eurostar posted to X at 12.55pm (local time) to inform passengers that they were 'sending a replacement train to take you to London, which should arrive around 1.30pm' local time - but Paisley said it did not arrive until 5pm 'But eventually people were opening up cabinets because they were dripping. It's not that they were trying to steal or do anything wrong, they were just extremely dehydrated. 'We were also starving and many of us have lost thousands of dollars, whether it's airport transfers, people are missing funerals, people were missing events.' Paisley said it took more than six hours for emergency services to come to the assistance of the distressed passengers. And when they did arrive, the 27-year-old said those who had been stuck on board and unable to go to the toilet, had to relieve themselves behind an aluminium foil held up by medics and staff. She said: 'Authorities were holding it up for people to go to the bathroom in the same place. It was really bad. 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