Eurostar 'Fiasco' As Migrants Block Tracks
Exhausted passengers arrive in London after being stuck for 12 hours near Calais as technical faults compound migrant disruption.
14:42, UK,Wednesday 02 September 2015
Rail services through the Channel Tunnel have been disrupted after migrants in France blocked tracks and climbed onto train roofs to try and reach Britain.
Some passengers on Eurostar services on Tuesday evening were told people had managed to get on top of their train and were asked to "listen out for people walking on the roof".
Following long delays at Calais, two services were forced to turn back, one to London and one to Paris.
On Wednesday, the fallout from the disruption continued.
A "rescue train" was sent for passengers who were stranded for around 12 hours near the French port after their train suffered a technical fault and was unable to return to Paris.
Three more trains heading to London faced delays of up to three hours, while a further two services were cancelled in the morning to "ensure the service is as robust as possible".
The six trains affected could carry up to 4,500 passengers, but Eurostar has refused to confirm the exact number of people affected.
Commuters stuck in France spoke of being "surrounded by migrants" and said the situation was a "fiasco".
Eurotunnel spokesman John Keefe said: "Since Channel Tunnel increased security over the past few months, we've seen the migrant problem displace to other areas as they try to get on to trains before they reach the tunnel.
"They're stopping trains by blocking the tracks, then trying to get through the tunnel, but we won't accept trains with migrants on."
A queue of passengers snaked through St Pancras station after the 7.55am service to Paris was halted.
A cordon was set up for the holidaymakers and business travellers who were stranded.
The 11.13am Paris to London service was also cancelled.
A spokesman said passengers who were due to travel on those two services will be transferred to other trains close to their intended departure time.
Meanwhile, exhausted passengers who were on the train stuck due to a technical fault finally returned to London at around 11am after travelling for around 16 hours.
Many reported seeing people trying to climb onto the train and heard them walking along the roof.
The passengers were reportedly left on the train for hours with no food in darkness and stifling heat after the power was cut.
George Golesack, 34, from Bethnal Green, said: "We were sitting at Calais for 14 hours trapped on the train.
"The batteries went dead and it was pitch black.
"One woman had a massive panic attack and another woman who was pregnant had to be taken to hospital."
He added: "People were trying to climb on the train.
"They were searching for two hours because they said there were people on the roof."
The train was forced to wait at Calais-Frethun station after breaking down at around 10pm local time, Eurostar confirmed.
Waiting for the rescue train, passenger Simon Gentry tweeted: "This is becoming a fiasco." The train eventually arrived shortly before 8.50am, Eurostar tweeted.
The latest incursion in France follows weeks of disruption on either side of the Channel caused by refugees seeking to reach the UK, prompting authorities to step up security at the Eurotunnel terminal at Coquelles, near Calais.
With thousands more taking increasingly desperate steps to reach western Europe via Hungary, Britain has been told it must do more to ease the "huge humanitarian catastrophe".
A spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU/CSU alliance warned in an interview with The Times that Britain's instance on being "out of the club" in sharing the Europe-wide burden could threaten the Prime Minister's plans to renegotiate the country's relationship with Europe.
