As New Year’s Day gets ever closer, travelers in Europe are on the move, with some heading home for the celebrations and others trekking off to visit their families. For those travelling between the Continent and England, though, things got a whole lot tougher Tuesday as authorities were forced to shut down the famed Chunnel:
An electrical outage in the Channel Tunnel has caused all Eurostar trains between Paris, London, Brussels, and Amsterdam to be suspended on Tuesday, December 30th. A gradual resumption of service is expected to begin around 3 p.m.
Not surprisingly, this caused huge crowds of stranded passengers and throngs of people to miss whatever event it was they were travelling to.
We are stuck in lines of traffic waiting to board @Eurostar from #folkestone to #calais Going nowhere. Power failure apparently. One way to end the year! @EurostarUK pic.twitter.com/K2jNGqTlZV
— Dean Pallant (@Dean_Pallant) December 30, 2025
According to a Paris-based outlet, the problem was caused by an electrical fire:
The incident began this morning with an electrical failure, which was followed by a LeShuttle shuttle becoming stranded in the tunnel, according to information released by Eurostar and confirmed by a company spokesperson. Passengers are advised to avoid the stations unless they hold tickets for today, and to postpone their travel plans if possible. The company states on its website that it is offering free ticket exchanges, or refunds via bank transfer or travel voucher.
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One couple’s story is likely similar to a whole bunch of people’s:
Nayim and his wife Kimberley should be celebrating the marriage of an old friend this afternoon - but instead they're stuck on a train in Calais…
"My wife’s done her make-up for the wedding and I’ve got my suit in the car ready, but at this rate I don’t think I’ll be wearing it any time soon," he says.
"We might get there for the dessert and cheese."
"He [the conductor] said in his 29 years of working on this he’s never seen anything like it."
Photos are starting to come in, and boy, it does not look fun:
YET AGAIN #Eurostar ISN’T WORKING. Pay less more for TV adverts & more money on keeping the Chunnel running for pities sake!!!Eurostar says it has 'no choice' but to suspend all services AGAIN - as queues build after Channel Tunnel power failure - Sky News https://t.co/hEuitBZeYo
— London living 2020 (@living_2020) December 30, 2025
Des centaines de passagers en direction de Londres sont bloqués depuis plusieurs heures à la Gare du Nord à Paris.
— Luc Auffret (@LucAuffret) December 30, 2025
Eurostar a annoncé la suspension de tous les trains entre Londres et Paris suite à des incidents techniques dans le tunnel sous la Manche.#London #Eurostar #Paris pic.twitter.com/vjtxi7k47C
The above tweet translated:
Hundreds of passengers heading to London have been stuck for several hours at Paris's Gare du Nord station.
Eurostar has announced the suspension of all trains between London and Paris due to technical incidents in the Channel Tunnel.
"It was absolute chaos," a 21-year-old student on the Eurostar to Brussels told the BBC after a 10-hour nightmare.
Service is resuming at this hour, but the havoc caused will take longer to sort out. Eurostar is telling customers to postpone their trips if at all possible because there will still be huge delays.
What a bloody mess. About the only thing passengers can do now, as the Brits say, is to “keep calm and carry on.”
Happy New Year from RedState!
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