Thousands suffer Eurostar chaos as services cancelled

The big new year getaway turned to chaos yesterday as an estimated 25,000 passengers were left stranded when Eurostar trains were cancelled without notice.

- JANE DALTON SIMON CALDER

Services between London and Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam were suspended for hours at one of the busiest travel times of Some trains that had left King’s Cross St Pancras turned around en route and headed back to London ~ a round trip of five hours, finishing where the train had begun.

The issue was blamed on a problem with the overhead power supply in the Channel Tunnel and a broken-down train blocking the route.

Crowds of waiting passengers built up at St Pancras and Paris Gare du Nord stations. Many tried to switch to ferries but found they were fully booked.

EasyJet switched some of its aircraft for larger planes to accommodate extra passengers and put on an additional flight in each direction.

Hundreds of cars were trapped in queues for LeShuttle at Folkestone before the vehicle-train service to Calais started resuming about three hours after the disruption began.