Thousands of travellers faced a New Year's Eve nightmare as severe disruption in the Channel Tunnel left Eurostar passengers stranded in darkness for over ten hours and forced LeShuttle customers to evacuate and walk through the service tunnel.
A Night of Darkness and Disruption
The travel chaos began on Monday, 29 December, when Eurostar was forced to axe all services from London to Europe. The unprecedented suspension was caused by a dual failure: an overhead power supply problem combined with a broken-down LeShuttle train, which together blocked all routes through the vital cross-Channel link.
Although some services resumed on a single line by Monday evening, further rail infrastructure issues overnight plunged passengers into a prolonged ordeal. Videos shared on social media depicted carriages in total darkness, with no working toilets, heating, or electricity to charge mobile phones.
Passenger Ghislain Planque told French broadcaster BFM that his journey from London to France, scheduled to take 90 minutes, stretched to a gruelling 11 hours. "We were left without electricity, so with no heating, no air-conditioning, no possibility to charge phones," he said. "We were in total darkness for some of the time."
Passenger Accounts of a 12-Hour Ordeal
One of the most affected services was the 6.04pm Eurostar from London St Pancras to Lille. Passenger James Weatherby, who had been rebooked onto this service after an earlier cancellation, described a harrowing journey. After boarding at 7pm and finally departing at 9pm, the train halted before entering the Channel Tunnel around 9.30pm.
The power then cut out completely, leaving passengers with only emergency lighting until approximately 2.30am. A locomotive eventually moved the train to an area with power near Folkestone, but they did not arrive in Lille until 7.08am the following morning—nearly 12 hours after first boarding.
Another traveller, Dennis Van Der Steen, was on a London to Amsterdam service that left St Pancras at 8.49pm. His train waited for six hours at the tunnel entrance without power before ultimately turning back to London. He described the scene to the BBC: "The train is dark, and the passengers are sleeping and waiting, and they're also very worried."
LeShuttle Evacuation in the Tunnel
The disruption extended beyond Eurostar to LeShuttle, the vehicle-carrying service. One train from Folkestone to Calais broke down approximately 45 minutes into its journey, leading to a dramatic evacuation. Passengers were instructed to leave their cars and walk through the service tunnel that runs between the two main rail tunnels.
TikTok user HollyJohn82 documented the "scary" event, showing passengers being addressed by emergency services underground. "We got driven in golf buggy type vehicles to the France end," she explained, adding that staff were "fab" and provided reassurance during the unsettling experience. The stricken train was eventually towed out at around 9am.
Compensation and Ongoing Travel Advice
In response to the crisis, Eurostar announced it is offering affected customers enhanced compensation, including a full refund of their ticket plus 150% of the ticket price as an e-voucher. The operator has also added an extra train from London to Paris to help clear the backlog.
Travel expert Rory Boland advises that passengers whose trains were cancelled can exchange their booking or claim a refund. Those delayed overnight have the right to be provided with hotel accommodation or reimbursed for costs. He strongly recommends checking the Eurostar website for live updates before travelling.
A Eurostar spokeswoman confirmed services had resumed on Tuesday but warned of ongoing knock-on impacts. "We plan to run all of our services today, however due to knock on impacts there may still be some delays and possible last-minute cancellations," she stated.
A History of Recent Disruptions
This incident is the latest in a series of major disruptions for Eurostar passengers over the past two years. Previous chaos has been triggered by:
- Cable theft: On 25 June, services were severely delayed after 600 metres of copper cable was stolen near Lille.
- Power failures: A track closure in northern France on 4 August caused widespread cancellations.
- Unexploded ordnance: Services were suspended on 7 March after the discovery of a Second World War bomb near tracks in Paris.
- Flooding: Two years ago, flooded tunnels in Kent caused 24 hours of travel chaos for up to 36,000 people.
Getlink, the company operating the Channel Tunnel, attributed the latest crisis to "an incident related to the power supply to trains" in part of the tunnel. As passengers finally reached their destinations, the focus now turns to the operator's investigation and the compensation owed to those whose New Year plans were left in ruins.
