by Thousands of travelers were left with ruined New Year’s Eve plans on Saturday after Eurostar canceled all trains to and from London amid the chaos of tunnel flooding.
All high speed services between Ebbsfleet International and London St Pancras International have been canceled due to flooding in a tunnel under the Thames.
Eurostar canceled all 41 services in and out of London St Pancras International, saying it was “very sorry”.
The disruption left thousands of people stranded at St Pancras International station unsure of what to do next, with many telling how their New Year’s plans had been put in jeopardy.
Meanwhile, almost all of Britain’s major train operators have predicted widespread disruption to services, throwing hundreds of thousands of people’s New Year’s Eve plans into doubt.
The flooding is believed to have been caused by a burst pipe fueled by the tunnel’s fire safety system, a water company said.
Emotional travelers were left sitting on travel cases, as people could be heard frantically trying to find alternative routes to their destination.
Among those affected were two newlyweds visiting from New York, who said their plans to spend New Year’s Eve at Disneyland Paris were “ruined”.
Nicole Carrera, 29, and her husband Christopher, 31, had to rebook a train on Sunday, scuppering their plans to spend New Year’s Eve at the theme park and leaving them out of pocket for a hotel non-refundable booked in Paris for Saturday. evening
She said: “We’ve been in London since Wednesday and wanted to leave today because we were supposed to go to Disney Paris tomorrow for New Year’s Eve.
“Obviously those plans have been ruined because now we don’t get into Paris tomorrow until around 6pm. So we are just going to walk around the city (Paris) tomorrow when we get there and finally get to our hotel. It’s just one of those things.”
Christina David, 25, and Georgina Benyamin, 26, from Sydney, have been traveling in Europe for about three weeks and their planned final stop is Paris, where they hope to spend New Year’s Eve and the day before flying out home on January 7.
They were supposed to catch the 7.30am train from London St Pancras International to Paris and “freaked out” when they were told it had been cancelled.
Ms Benyamin said: “Now we have to book a hotel to stay here for the night”, as Ms David said: “We have nowhere to stay”.
Ms David said: “We paid for an expensive hotel with a view of the Eiffel Tower.” Ms Benyamin added: “We traveled Europe on a budget and then when we hit the New Year we get to go really hard, watch Paris light up, I don’t think that’s going to happen… I’m going to cry. “
The problem has left Brits “stranded” in mainland Europe.
Water company Thames Water said it believed the flood was caused by “a fire control system and not a Thames Water pipe”.
A number of railway tunnels, including the Channel Tunnel, have water systems installed as a fire safety measure.
“We have a technician en route to offer support to control the flow of water,” a statement said.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and offer support where necessary.”
A full Eurostar train will carry “nearly 900 passengers” according to the firm’s website, meaning up to 36,000 people could be affected after all 41 services are cancelled.
New Year’s Eve party-goers have also been warned of widespread rail disruption due to the bad weather.
Engineering works and driver shortages have also caused delays, with rail firms warning there is a “high risk” of weekend cancellations due to a lack of train crews.
A spokesman for Eurostar said on Saturday: “Eurostar has been advised by Network Rail that flooding in the tunnels between St Pancras International and Ebbsfleet has not improved and train services are unable to operate. Eurostar therefore had to make the unfortunate decision to cancel all services for the rest of the day. This is a total of 41 trains.
“Eurostar is deeply saddened by the unexpected issues affecting customers today but safety remains our top priority. We understand that this is a critical time to get home at the end of the festive season and before the New Year and we are supporting customers in the stations.
“Affected customers are encouraged to visit the website to find out what compensation they can receive.
“Network Rail is continuing to keep Eurostar informed of how the situation continues to develop ahead of tomorrow. We will be in direct contact with customers who are about to travel to keep them up to date.”
In a statement, Thames Water said: “We have been made aware of an incident involving a pipe flooding the Eurostar tunnel.
“We believe the incident is related to a fire control system and not a Thames Water pipe/asset, but we have a technician on the way to assist in controlling the flow of water.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and offer support where necessary.”
