Eurostar services suspended AGAIN following fire
EUROSTAR services were suspended AGAIN today following a weekend of travel disruption.
Firefighters are believed to have tackled a blaze close to tracks in a suburban part of Paris, halting trains travelling into Gare Du Nord, according to reports.
Services are understood to have resumed after the fire was brought under control and passengers in France were allowed to board services to London.
A Eurostar spokesperson said: "None of our trains had been cancelled, there was however a very temporary suspension for the trains in and out of Paris which was around 10 minutes.
"However they have all resumed now and a train has just left Paris.
"Everything is back to normal but i think there will be delays throughout the day because one of the tunnels is still closed, but we're not planning on cancelling any trains at all."
There was however a very temporary suspension for the trains in and out of Paris which was around 10 minutes
It comes as the chaos surrounding the Eurotunnel dragged into a third day with passengers warned to expect further disruption.
Thousands of customers were left stranded and scrambling for hotel rooms over the weekend after a lorry fire caused the Channel Tunnel to close for several hours on Saturday.
Then yesterday, eleven Eurostar trains were cancelled due a separate incident caused by a "power supply" problem on the Tunnel.
But further travel misery was unleashed today after Eurotunnel warned passengers travelling by car or coach from the UK on their Le Shuttle service to expect waiting times of "approximately 90 minutes".
While on the French side, customers have been warned they may experience delays of "approximately three hours".
The firm said: "Our passenger service is currently operating with some timetable disruption, this is due to an incident in the Tunnel which is in the process of being resolved.
"There is a waiting time of approximately 90 minutes on the terminal. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this will cause to your journey."
Channel Tunnel closed and services hit after lorry fire
Morning all, phone lines are now open. We expect to run a full service today & advise check in as normal. Trains may be delayed 30-60 mins.
— Eurostar (@Eurostar) January 19, 2015Earlier today, Eurostar tweeted that they were hopeful for a "full service" today, but warned of delays of up to an hour.
The company tweeted this morning: "Morning all, phone lines are now open. We expect to run a full service today & advise check in as normal. Trains may be delayed 30-60 mins."
Yesterday the train operator were forced to apologise to passengers after some took to Twitter to complain of waits of up to nine hours on its telephone booking system, having been advised to use to it reschedule their trip.
One user, Esme Caldwell, from London, tweeted to the company: "Yes I called 03432 186 186 at 8am. It's playing the music and the hold message. Still on hold. It's been 9 hours. Please call me."
Eurostar - which operates passenger services between Paris, London and Brussels - said 26 of its trains were cancelled on Saturday afternoon, affecting at least 12,000 passengers.
Over Saturday night, Eurotunnel Le Shuttle car and lorry services began operating after "residue smoke" was cleared and ran with two departures every two hours from both the UK and France.
Kent Police later confirmed that the smoke was caused by a lorry fire.
A spokesman said: "A lorry fire has led to the closure of both bores of the Channel Tunnel.
"The fire was at the French end of the tunnel and is being dealt with by the French authorities. There are no reported injuries.
"However, rail passengers are advised to expect significant delays whilst the vehicle is being recovered and fumes are cleared from the tunnels."
The fire sparked chaos at St Pancras Station in London and lengthy queues of hundreds of irritated passengers, some of whom had to wait up to THREE hours to receive refunds.
Eurostar runs around 30 trains from London to Paris every weekend.
