Eurostar trains resume operation after flooding in tunnels was cleaned
Eurostar's tunnels are essential to ensuring strong transport links between the UK and continental Europe. They provide fast and efficient connections between London and cities on the continent, reducing travel times to a few hours.
The routes have reopened after the flooding and are operating as normal. Earlier, hundreds of trains were cancelled, which led to chaos on the railroad, shropshirestar writes.
The weather-related emergency occurred on Friday, December 29, when water filled the tunnels near Ebbsfleet International in Kent, disrupting all high-speed transportation.
Huge queues formed at St. Pancras station, with passengers trying to buy tickets for Sunday as their Saturday flights were cancelled.
Some tourists said they had lost hope of buying tickets for Sunday.
Eurostar resumes operations
The first Eurostar train left London's St. Pancras International Airport shortly after 8 a.m. and headed for Paris. However, due to the chaos, it was necessary to organize a trip for about 36,000 people who would not be able to travel on Saturday.
It is emphasized that currently, high-speed service to St. Pancras International Airport is operating as usual.
According to High Speed 1, the UK's high-speed road, the speed limit between London and the English Channel was cancelled at 11 a.m.
According to Richard Thorp, HS1's technical director, engineers inspected the line and both tunnels were cleared of flooding overnight.
However, he was unable to confirm that the flooding was caused by a burst pipe feeding the tunnel's fire safety system, as the water company had suggested.
According to Thorp, it was the first time the organization had ever encountered so much water in the tunnels, and the pumps could not cope.
"We're talking about millions of gallons here," he emphasized.
Due to the flooded tunnels and chaos on the railroad, many routes in neighbouring countries were cancelled.
For example, Northern Trains announced a ban on travel from December 31 on the routes from Manchester Victoria to Stalybridge, from Morecambe and Heysham to Lancaster, from Oxenholme to Windermere, from Preston to Colne and from Clitheroe to Bolton.
Serious disruption has occurred on Thameslink routes. It is predicted that further weather changes will affect some Transport for Wales services until the end of Monday. According to weather forecasters, rain and strong winds are expected in the UK.
