There is not a single transport system in the world that works to perfection all the time. The most critical test of a transport system is not how it operates under normal conditions but how it responds when things go wrong.  Here is a Eurostar test case from 27 December 2024.

According to information reported in the press an early morning London to Paris service failed in the Channel Tunnel where it remained for two and a half hours until the train was able to move forward slowly under its own power to Calais Frethun where the passengers remained on board. A replacement train was brought to the other platform and passengers then transferred to the replacement train which eventually arrived in Paris six hours late.

While the train was stranded, the Channel Tunnel operated in single bore mode causing inevitable delays to both Eurostar and Euro Shuttle trains in both directions. I first became aware of this when I arrived at St Pancras at 10.30am and noticed that all arrivals from both Paris and Bruxelles were between twenty and seventy minutes late. I enquired of a member of staff whether this would affect my 13.01 departure and in reply was told about the problem and that after the 11.31 departure all trains should leave on time but that I may experience a ten-to-fifteen-minute delay on route. Sure enough the 10.31 to Paris left nearly an hour late, the 11.31 to Paris left around twenty minutes late. The 12.31 to Paris and my 13.01 to Bruxelles left on time.

At St Pancras the queues seemed no longer than usual, they were well managed by cheerful staff and flowed well. Security checks of baggage caused the usual short queues but Passport Control was slick, seamless and without queues. It may have been different two hours earlier.

I had a fifteen-minute connection at Bruxelles on to the 16.22 ICE to Koln. My Eurostar arrived five minutes late so I only had ten minutes, but I still made the train with five minutes to spare. We departed on time. However, there is an issue here that Eurostar, SNCB and Deutsche Bahn must address. There are always passengers from the Eurostar travelling onward to Germany by the ICE but, as a norm, the ICE is not held for a late running Eurostar. I only made the connection because:

  • I was travelling alone
  • I only had a 35litre backpack, half full and no other luggage
  • I was first off the Eurostar from the front coach
  • I am able to walk quickly and unaided
  • I had checked the departure platform of the ICE a few minutes before our arrival
  • I know my way round Bruxelles Midi station
  • I can read the station electronic departures board (to check for last minute changes) on the move

Making a connection shouldn’t rely on these factors and there will be people who missed the connection. Holding the ICE for up to ten minutes would probably not seriously impact arrival time at Cologne.

Now back to the original issue, the train that failed in the tunnel. I do not wish to downplay the anxiety, distress and much more suffered by the passengers but my focus is on Eurostar’s response. Whilst I have always found Eurostar terminal and on board staff to be friendly, cheerful, helpful and knowledgeable it does seem that higher management treat passengers as a commodity to be moved rather than people with feelings travelling for a purpose.

Two and a half hours to power down a failed train, carry out safety checks power up the train and carry out further safety checks might be fine in the depot but it is not fine with a train load of passengers in the tunnel. If after a reasonable period of time, say thirty minutes, the train is still a failure then the rescue locomotives should be sent in to haul the train forward to Calais or Ashford where passengers can transfer to a replacement train.

On the question of replacement trains instead of waiting for another Eurostar to be sent from London or Paris SE Javelins could be used from Ashford or a SNCF TGV from Lille taken to Calais Frethun. Yes, I know they are different operators, but passengers are more important than train company politics.

I do not know the cause of the failure in this instance. If the train was eventually able to proceed to Calais at a lower speed maybe it could have continued to Lille where a simple cross platform transfer of passengers would have been possible. Crucially, it may have been able to move forward slowly earlier on.

At least in this case passengers were taken forward to France, not back to London to begin the journey again. They were also given water and hot drinks at Calais and they will have received partial compensation for the delayed Eurostar leg of their journey. That is not enough, as they should get re-imbursement for any new travel tickets or hotel accommodation required to be complete their journey resulting from the delay. For a delay of this magnitude a voucher for a free Eurostar trip should be given to each passenger.

Finally, it seems that Eurostar need an ‘incident recovery plan’ that is more passenger focussed, getting them to their destination with as short a delay as possible.

Ian Ring
January 2025