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Sarkozy orders Eurostar to end Paris-London rail chaos

Eurostar to restart some services, but backlogs remain
London (AFP) Dec 21, 2009 - Thousands of travellers between Britain, France and Belgium left stranded by the Eurostar rail shutdown will be on the move again Tuesday, but it could take several days to clear the massive backlog. Eurostar announced it would run a "restricted" service Tuesday after a three-day shutdown hit 75,000 people -- but only passengers originally due to travel Saturday or Sunday will be eligible. The remainder of the backlog will be cleared over the next few days. But with the Christmas holiday looming Friday, the clock is ticking for travellers wanting to head home or visit friends and family abroad. Eurostar, the rail link which connects Britain and mainland Europe, said after tests on trains its service would be back on track -- though only operating to two-thirds capacity and carrying 26,000 people. Their problems were linked to heavy snow which fell at the weekend and which got past screens into train engines, causing electrical faults.

The situation was so bad that French President Nicolas Sarkozy summoned the company's chairman to his offices and ordered him to get the trains operating again by Tuesday. "It has been a test for our trains that they haven't passed. We need to look at how to modify them for the future," Richard Brown, Eurostar chief executive, told Britain's Sky News television. He added that a fully normal Eurostar service would probably not be restored until after Christmas. The travel chaos began when five trains broke down on Friday night amid freezing temperatures and snow in northern France, trapping two thousand passengers overnight in the 50-kilometre (31-mile) tunnel under the English Channel.

Many passengers have voiced outrage at their treatment. "I come each day intending to be strong, but now, with the fatigue and the lack of information...," 27-year-old British traveller Sze-Wei Lu said as she fought back tears at the Gare du Nord station in Paris. She was just one of the many thousands waiting to find out if they could get home for Christmas or begin their Christmas holiday trip abroad. French and British government ministers expressed outrage Monday over the breakdown and ordered a probe, with British transport minister Sadiq Khan saying he was "angry" that passengers had still not been told what was going on. Sarkozy summoned Guillaume Pepy, the chairman of Eurostar. The company is jointly owned by the French and Belgian state railway and a private British firm. "The president asked that a resumption of traffic be effective by tomorrow, December 22," said a statement issued by Sarkozy's office after their meeting.

Eurostar has launched its own review by independent experts into the breakdown of the high-speed trains. The shuttle service which carries cars and trucks on trains under the Channel was functioning normally Monday, its operator Eurotunnel said, but was taking no more bookings for the moment because it was "saturated". Eurostar meanwhile said it would compensate the thousands of passengers who had been stuck overnight in the tunnel at the weekend. They will get double the price they paid for their tickets as well as up to 170 euros (243 dollars) and would have any hotel or taxi expenses reimbursed, it said. Others who have not been able to travel can exchange their tickets for a later date or have them reimbursed and will have any expenses incurred reimbursed. Eurostar has suspended any further ticket sales until after Christmas.
by Staff Writers
Paris (AFP) Dec 21, 2009
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has ordered Eurostar to get its trains back on track by Tuesday after a shutdown blamed partly on "fluffy" snow caused misery for tens of thousands of travellers.

Eurostar said services between London and Paris could partially resume on Tuesday morning if test runs on trains "go well", but that schedules would not get back to normal before Christmas on Friday at the earliest.

Around 75,000 travellers have been left stranded by the cancellation of services on one of the busiest weeks of the year in the run-up to the Christmas break, said Eurostar, updating its earlier figure of 40,000.

The chaos began when five trains broke down on Friday night amid freezing temperatures and snow in northern France, trapping two thousand passengers overnight in the 50-kilometre (31-mile) undersea tunnel.

Many passengers were outraged at their treatment while trapped on board the blocked trains, with some complaining they had been left for hours without food, drink or information on when and how their ordeal would end.

Transport misery continued on Monday, with travellers in the Eurostar terminals in London and Paris angered that the company cannot yet tell them when they can begin a journey that usually takes just over two hours.

"I come each day intending to be strong, but now, with the fatigue and the lack of information..." 27-year-old British traveller Sze-Wei Lu said as she fought back tears in the Gare du Nord station in Paris.

The winter cold snap that shut down the Eurostar trains has also caused dozens of deaths and major transport disruption across Europe.

Nick Mercer, commercial director of the company jointly owned by the French and Belgian state railway and a private British firm, said Eurostar was still trying to figure out what had gone wrong.

"It seems to be a strange combination of factors," he told the BBC, noting that the trains had successfully undergone a "winterisation" process.

"It was the amount of snow, which was higher than we experienced before, it was lighter than normal, fluffier, and the temperature inside the tunnel and the humidity was higher than normal," said Mercer.

That explanation failed to placate French government ministers, who on Monday expressed outrage over the breakdown and ordered a probe.

British Transport Minister Sadiq Khan said he was "angry" that passengers had still not been told what was going on.

As frustration mounted, Sarkozy summoned the chairman of Eurostar to his Elysee offices for an explanation.

"The president asked that a resumption of traffic be effective by tomorrow, December 22," said a statement issued by his office after the meeting.

Sarkozy also told Guillaume Pepy, who is chairman of both Eurostar and the French SNCF rail network, that he wanted him to implement new measures to avoid a repeat of the "unacceptable" stoppage of the service.

Shortly after that statement, Eurostar's chief operating officer Nicolas Petrovic held a press conference to say passenger rail service between London and Paris and Brussels might begin to resume on Tuesday morning.

"We are confident," he said, noting that tests so far conducted had been satisfactory.

Eurostar said it had launched its own review by independent experts into the breakdown of the high-speed trains.

The shuttle service that carries cars and trucks on trains under the Channel was functioning normally Monday, its operator Eurotunnel said, but it was taking no more bookings for the moment because it was "saturated".

Eurostar meanwhile said it would compensate the thousands of passengers who had been stuck overnight in the tunnel at the weekend.

They will get double the price they paid for their tickets as well as up to 170 euros (243 dollars) and would have any hotel or taxi expenses reimbursed, it said.

Others who have not been able to travel can exchange their tickets for a later date or have them reimbursed and will have any expenses incurred reimbursed on a case-by-case basis.

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