At least fourteen Eurostar trains were canceled on Saturday December 30 due to track flooding in the south of England, the company announced. These cancellations, which occur during one of the busiest weekends of the year, will strand thousands of passengers.
“Due to an infrastructure problem on the high-speed line near London, we are forced to cancel some trains to or from London,” Eurostar wrote. According to British rail operator Southeastern, the disruption could last “until the end of the day”.
“Flooding has occurred in both railway tunnels near Ebbsfleet International, meaning both tunnels are closed,” writes this railway company. “No trains can run” between St. Pancras International, the Eurostar departure and arrival station in London, and Ebbsfleet International, she adds.
In addition to Eurostar traffic, these floods on the tracks affect the circulation of trains linking London and the south-east of England. Heavy rain is still expected in this part of the UK on Saturday.
Quiet location in St. Pancras
The cancellations, which occur during one of the busiest weekends of the year, will strand thousands of passengers. At St. Pancras station in London, a few thousand passengers waited quietly on Saturday mid-morning, according to an Agence France-Presse journalist on site. “We are sorry for the inconvenience caused,” Eurostar writes on its website. The company offers passengers the option to exchange their reservation for a trip at a later date or to cancel their ticket.
On December 21, in the middle of the holiday period, Eurostar passengers were already faced with numerous train cancellations due to a surprise strike which paralyzed the Channel Tunnel. A total of thirty trains were canceled that day, leaving thousands of travelers without a solution. Some then turned to the bus or the plane at the last moment, in the hope of reaching their loved ones in time for Christmas. Eurostar traffic finally resumed on December 22.