Eurotunnel Le Shuttle breaks down, passengers stuck for hours

Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Eurotunnel passengers had to wait for hours in a service tunnel underneath the English Channel after their broke down on Tuesday afternoon.

The passengers were transferred to a cargo train but complained of being stuck in the sub-sea tunnel for nearly five hours, citing issues with the replacement transport.

The initial breakdown late on Tuesday affected the 3.50pm Eurotunnel Le Shuttle service from Calais to Folkestone and led to hundreds of passengers being ushered into a service tunnel.

Videos on social media showed holidaymakers walking through the alternate tunnel alongside the 31-mile rail route between Britain and France, some with suitcases and dogs.

Meanwhile travellers in Calais were told to stay away from the terminal until 6am on Wednesday, with pictures showing gridlock at the shuttle terminal late into Tuesday evening.

A spokesman for Eurotunnel Le Shuttle apologized for the inconvenience and said that a train has broken down in the tunnel. They are in the process of transferring customers to a separate passenger shuttle via the service tunnel, to return to the Folkestone terminal.
The spokesman advised passengers not to travel to the terminal tonight and arrive after 6pm the next day.

Michael Harrison, from Cranbrook, Kent, one of those on the evacuated train said that they got on the 3.50pm crossing, approximately 10 minutes in the lights went out and the train stopped.

Another passenger who was evacuated, but did not want to be named, said that several people were freaking out about being down in the service tunnel. The place is a bit weird. They were stuck in that spot for at least five hours.

Journalist Bruce Atkinson, caught up in the delays at Calais, tweeted that sitting in the boarding queue at Calais with no idea how long they will be waiting. They had been there 4 hours.

Sarah Fellows, 37, from Birmingham, that they will have taken 18 hours to return home from a family holiday in France after the “utter carnage” of the evacuation.

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