Eurostar Failings Exposed
Eurostar – which provides the train service under the Channel Tunnel between the UK and the rest of Europe – has been strongly criticised for the chaos caused by severe winter weather before Christmas.

Five trains broke down in the tunnel and 2,500 people were left for hours without food and water in carriages that were dark and unventilated.
An independent report says Eurostar had not properly prepared its trains for the heavy snow on the French side. The snow got under the trains’ winter cladding and then melted as they passed into the warmth of the tunnel. The resulting condensation caused electrical problems.
The report said Eurostar had no working plan to evacuate multiple broken-down trains. The result was that passengers were left in the dark – literally and figuratively, because they were given little or no information. One of the trains was carrying families back from Disneyland, Paris. Parents had to strip children to their underwear as the heat rose in the darkened carriages.
Eurostar’s Chief Executive, Richard Brown, said the company would be investing more than £30million ($47million) in order to implement all the review’s 21 recommendations.
“I recognise that we let down a considerable number of our passengers very badly with the disruption and breakdowns before Christmas, and, once again, I’d like to say, on behalf of Eurostar, I am very, very sorry,” he said.
by Andy Moreton


















