London travel chaos as Euston services canceled and Eurostar hit by last-minute strike

Passengers were thrown into chaos in London on one of the busiest travel days of the year – with all Eurostar services canceled due to a last-minute strike by Eurotunnel staff and major disruption at Euston.

The questions are thought to have disrupted thousands of Christmas holiday trips on Thursday.

All Eurostar cross-channel services were halted from midday until the end of the day, following a last-minute strike by Eurotunnel staff at operator Getlink.

All travelers going between St Pancras and the mainland were asked to postpone their journeys, as photographs showed large crowds of passengers stranded at the terminal.

The strike is affecting Eurostar – which operates passenger services to and from London St Pancras – and Eurotunnel Le Shuttle, which runs trains carrying vehicles to and from Folkestone. At least 30 Eurostar trains have been canceled until the end of Thursday.

It is also having a knock-on effect on roads, as the M20 coastal motorway between Junctions 8 and 9 is temporarily closed.

An east London woman was reduced to tears after her Eurostar train to Paris was cancelled, leaving her fearing she would not be able to spend Christmas with her family.

Jennyfer Winslow, 37, from Leytonstone, was due to travel to France with her husband and 17-month-old daughter, but they received an email from Eurostar as they were about to leave on Thursday saying their trip had been cancelled.

“I actually cried for two hours,” she told the Standard. “We are really close to my family and we don’t see each other very often.

“My parents are missing my daughter. They were really looking forward to seeing her. It was very upsetting because, being so close to the holidays, we thought we wouldn’t be able to make it.”

Mrs Winslow has managed to book another Eurostar service for Friday, but is concerned it could also be cancelled. She asked: “How do we know that tomorrow is going forward?”

Other Eurostar passengers expressed their frustration on X’s social media platform.

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Janette Kadriu was to travel on Thursday evening but she had to reschedule for Friday as well. “Everyone is expecting us for Christmas, almost impossible to book something else so close to the holidays,” she wrote. “Full evening”.

Another user hit out at the stricken team, writing: “It’s a bad thing to do without any notice. I’m in St Pancras, lots of people waiting for information, some in wheelchairs, young families, children in prams, quite upset, quite upset. inconvenient.”

Meanwhile trains from London Euston were “severely disrupted” on Thursday after overhead wires near Hemel Hempstead were damaged.

There was also travel chaos at Heathrow airport after British Airways canceled two dozen domestic and European flights to and from the transport hub due to Storm Pia.

All trains from London Euston were suspended earlier on Thursday, but Network Rail said shortly after 3pm that some services were resuming.

He said an emergency timetable would be run when services resumed on Thursday afternoon, and that disruptions were expected.

Hundreds of passengers were left stranded outside the station after the gates were closed to stop them from entering.

One passenger wrote on social media site X that his “disabled and learning disabled daughter is in tears”, while another passenger said their Christmas plans had been “ruined at the last minute”.

Engineers were assessing the damage on Thursday evening after a serious fault was discovered in the overhead wires at Watford Junction.

Network Rail said it was working to resolve the issue, with one of the wires supplying power to trains on the West Coast Main Line at Bourne End, Buckinghamshire.

Crews were working to open at least two of the four tracks through the area, so an emergency timetable could be run.

All lines through the area are currently blocked until further notice, according to London Northwestern Railway.

Replacement buses are currently running from Northampton to Milton Keynes, and from Milton Keynes to Watford Junction.

While there was a separate disruption from Euston to Avanti West Coast services from Euston to Manchester, when all lines were blocked on Thursday morning after a bag got caught on power lines.

James Dean, Network Rail’s South West Coast route director, said on Thursday evening: “I am sorry for passengers affected by the overhead lines near Euston station and the major disruption to journeys this is causing.

“Our team of engineers are on site assessing the damage, but it is too early to know what caused it. Our focus is on resolving the issue as soon as possible.

“I would advise people to check www.nationalrail.co.uk before they set off on their journey as we work hard to get passengers back safely.”

Network Rail said a previous issue caused by a tree falling onto the track near Newark on the East Coast Main Line had been fixed and trains were running from King’s Cross, with delays.

Network Rail told passengers in a previous statement: “Our engineers are working to remove a bag that was caught on the overhead power line between Stoke and Crewe.”

North West London services between Stafford and Crewe were also affected.

Due to a last minute strike by Eurotunnel staff, no Channel Tunnel crossings have taken place since midday on Thursday.

A Eurostar spokesman said: “Due to a last-minute strike by Eurotunnel staff, there have been no Channel Tunnel crossings since midday on December 21.

“Unfortunately, this means that 30 Eurostar trains from London, Paris or Brussels have been canceled until the end of the day.

“For passengers who are to travel tomorrow [Friday]Eurostar will update them directly with any changes to services from 7pm [UK time].

“Disrupted customers have today been contacted directly about their journey and have had the option of exchanging their tickets free of charge or claiming a refund.

“Eurostar is closely monitoring the situation as it develops and Eurotunnel is being kept informed of developments.

“While the situation is out of Eurostar’s control, all our teams are working to minimize the impact on our customers and provide as much support as possible. There are also extra staff in stations to assist travellers.”

Getlink, the French company that operates the Channel Tunnel, said: “Due to today’s call for strike action by Eurotunnel staff union representatives on the French site, the service has been completely disrupted and our terminals in France and the UK have been closed.” High winds from Storm Pia affected train services mainly in the north of the country, including all of Scotland, north Wales, as well as parts of East Anglia, the Midlands, the north west and north east England.

It came as South Western Rail warned of major disruption to some of its services from Waterloo on Wednesday 27 to Friday 29 December due to landslide repairs.

The train company advised passengers not to travel unless absolutely necessary on those days.

The services affected are those running between Woking and Basingstoke.

Southwest said this was because it needed to access two of the four tracks to repair a landslide that occurred in late November.

On all three days, some of the first services from London Waterloo via Woking and Basingstoke will start later each day, around 7am.

Some stations from Waterloo, such as Alton or Brookwood, may not be served directly, while others may not have a service once an hour.

Stuart Meek, South Western Rail’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “This is a complex repair that our colleagues at Network Rail are working hard to complete.

“To make further progress, they will need access again to two of the four tracks in the area which is the best option available, although it is disruptive.

“Since we will only have half the number of tracks available, we will have to reduce our services as we did a few weeks ago. Our advice to customers is that if their trains run between Woking and Basingstoke, they should only travel if absolutely necessary.”