Powerless Eurostar Leaves Passengers Stuck

More than 1,000 Eurostar passengers were stuck on trains for hours on Thursday night because of an overhead cable problem.

The failure, at Lille in northern France, affected nearly 700 passengers on the 6.01pm London to Paris train and another 600 on the 6.04pm London to Brussels train.

Some of those reported being left in the dark without water and with no information about what had happened.

Passenger Jonathan Gray told Sky News: "What was supposed to be a two-hour jaunt turned into a twelve-hour nightmare.

"There was no light, no fresh air, no food, no power, and no information about what was happening.

"Eurostar handled this incident so shambolically."

Another angry passenger tweeted: "I was trapped on your train for 9hrs. No information and in pitch black. You waited 8hrs to bring water to customers".

"We had to walk in darkness to get water. We think you held us past 4am not to put us in a hotel. No staff at Lille!!"

Another complainant described how a planned birthday trip to Paris was ruined because of the delay.

Diesel engines were eventually sent to tow the stricken trains to their destinations.

Eurostar said the Paris train had arrived six hours late, while the Brussels train got in nine hours late.

"There was a failure of the overhead power line just outside Lille.

"The passengers on the Brussels train are entitled to twice the amount of a complete refund plus a free return trip, while those on the Paris train can claim an entire refund plus a free return trip," a spokesman said.

Eurostar later tweeted an apology: "Sorry for the very long delays due to an issue with one of the power lines that left (the trains) without power."

The knock-on effect of the overnight disruption meant Eurostar had to cancel three trains on Friday - the 10.30am Paris to London, the 10.56am Brussels to London and the 2.04pm London to Brussels.