Eurostar delay traps 700 travellers

Eurostar delay traps

700 travellers

Nearly 700 passengers on a Eurostar train travelling from Paris to Waterloo suffered the worst-ever delays on the service after the train suffered three separate breakdowns including overhead electrical equipment smashing into a tunnel in Kent. Last night the train finally reached London almost seven hours late. The series of incidents started when the 12.13pm train from Paris with 694 people aboard broke down between Lille and Calais. Passengers were delayed for 40 minutes and had to board a fresh train. Then, when it emerged from the Channel Tunnel, the pantographs, through which it draws the overhead current, failed to retract properly. The driver was unaware of this until the pantograph hit the Saltwood tunnel between Folkestone and Ashford. Finally, the train lost power in the Sevenoaks tunnel, and it had to be hauled to London by a rescue locomotive.