Eurostar chaos as passengers complain of ‘slowly boiling alive' on halted train
Customers travelling from Brussels to London on the Eurostar on Sunday took to social media to describe the chaos onboard - with some saying they had no working toilets or proper ventilation.
Eurostar said the train broke down due to a power failure, and told passengers reaching out to them on social media they were sending a replacement train to complete the final leg of their journey.
One passenger wrote: 'Stuck on the @Eurostar for 4.5 hours, stationary. Toilets full, electricity off & absolutely slowly boiling alive The fire service made it on with some first aiders, but still no official announcement for 3 hrs. They tweeted there would be a replacement train at 1:30, no sign.'
According to the Eurostar website, the train left Brussels at 8:52am local time, and was due to arrive at London's St Pancras International at 9:57am.
But six hours on from their scheduled arrival time, passengers were still stuck between Lille and Calais.
Pictures shared to social media shows passengers leaning out of the door to get fresh air, before they were evacuated onto the tracks as they await their replacement train.
One person on board wrote on X: 'There's no communication. No air. No toilets. Just absolute chaos. This is baffling. Accidents happen, but this a live failure of management. Spectacularly bad service.'
Another passenger said: '@eurostar 1 word incompetent, from a passenger on train 9117 from Brussels to London.. no energy without water for the toilets or food, regretting traveling here.'
Some passengers in a lighter mood began playing guitars and singing a song titled 'home' as people disembarked the train.
It appears the replacement train arrived at around 3pm UK time.
A Eurostar spokesperson said: 'Earlier today, Eurostar train 9117, travelling from Brussels to London, came to a standstill between Lille and Calais due to a power failure, leaving the train without onboard electricity.
'To provide passengers with some comfort during the delay, train doors were opened to allow fresh air to circulate, and water was distributed.
'A rescue train was promptly dispatched from Brussels to carry out a complex transfer operation. This process, supported by local authorities and SNCF Réseau personnel on site, is taking longer than anticipated and is still ongoing.'
They added Eurostar will offer all affected customers either a full cash refund or 300 per cent of the ticket value in the form of an e-voucher.
The incident comes just weeks after thousands of passengers had their Eurostar journeys cancelled after two days of disruption led to 'chaos' on the high-speed line.
Customers were warned on 25 June to delay or cancel their journeys after 600m of cable was stolen on the high-speed line near Lille, France, cancelling the journeys of more than 5,000 people.
It came after passengers faced long delays the evening before, when two people were hit by trains on the network. Thousands were affected by the chaos which brought journeys between London and Paris to a standstill.
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'Eurostar will offer all affected customers a compensation package of either a full cash refund (100%) or 300% of the ticket value in the form of an e-voucher.' A Eurostar spokeswoman told AFP the train 'came to a standstill with no power on board' on Sunday morning between the northern cities of Lille and Calais. She said passengers received water and the doors were opened to allow air to circulate. Several passengers took to social media to vent at the delay and accuse Eurostar of a lack of communication.
