The hundreds of travelers who boarded the Eurostar 9080 bound for Paris Gare du Nord had an unpleasant surprise on December 27. Their train found itself stuck for three hours in the Channel Tunnel due to a technical incident. A breakdown which caused delays on the line on the Franco-British network.
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An incident paralyzed the Eurostar network for several hours on December 27, 2024. A situation “chaotic” which had not been recorded for a long time. But this Friday, around 7 a.m., Eurostar 9080 from London stopped in the middle of the Channel Tunnel. A distressing situation for its 800 passengers, forced to wait on the train with no prospect of departure, due to a technical problem affecting the power supply.
After 3.5 hours of waiting, the Eurostar was finally able to resume its route at reduced speed to Calais, where the travelers were disembarked to board another train bound for Paris Gare du Nord. The situation was finally resolved on the Pas-de-Calais coast, but the 800 passengers arrived at their destination around 2 p.m., five hours later than the time initially planned.
Obviously, the late arrival of train 9080 caused delays for the other Eurostars expected in Paris. On the platform, passengers worried, stressed or angry at not having enough information queue or update their e-ticket, to try to obtain a departure time.
More chaos from Gare du Nord. I don't remember having a pleasant Eurostar journey in recent years. It's still hell.
Josephine, British traveler
On X, users share their problems and call on the railway companies to find out what to do. “The train is more than an hour late. I get in and the premium seat is wet and marked “unused”. The train staff shrugs, removes the sticker and simply puts down a diaper to sit on. Totally unacceptable“, explains Malcolm in a tweet.
Trains initially scheduled for 1:12 p.m., 2:42 p.m. and 3:12 p.m. were all delayed by the breakdown this Friday morning. The support page for Shuttles – the Eurostar shuttles which connect Calais to Folkestone – indicated at 4 p.m. that “the technical problem that previously occurred with the Eurostar train has been resolved” but that delays are likely to continue in the afternoon. In a post, the company indicates that delays are now of the order of an hour. Already, the train announced at 4:12 p.m. is now scheduled for 5:12 p.m.
On its page dedicated to refunds and complaints, Eurostar specifies that in the event of a breakdown on a train, a transfer to other convoys is generally preferred. “If your train arrives at its destination more than 60 minutes late, you can request compensation. Wait 24 hours, then go to our dedicated page“, also mentions the company.
If you miss your connection in the United Kingdom or with one of Eurostar's partners in France, Belgium, the Netherlands or Germany, the Franco-British company specifies that you can travel on the next train available by validating your ticket with the controllers.
“The safety and well-being of our passengers is always our priority, and we are truly sorry for the inconvenience and delay to their travel today. Enhanced compensation will be offered to passengers, and details of this compensation will be communicated to them soon“, Eurostar said in a press release in the afternoon.
