27/08/2009

Power Failure Hits Channel Tunnel

There was 'shock' this week as undersea passenger trains ground to a halt.

A power outage was being blamed after Channel Tunnel passengers - who boarded carriages in Calais at 7.50pm on Tuesday evening - didn't get to Folkestone in Kent until 2.30am on Wednesday morning.

It has been reported that hundreds of passengers were trapped in the tunnel for around six hours when the train suffered a power failure and broke down.

The 500 passengers were stuck in the dark too, after the lights went out and the air conditioning also stopped when the power failed.

Services in both directions were suspended for several hours while a rescue train arrived to pull the broken-down one out.

According to reports, a number of children and a diabetic woman fainted.

Eurotunnel apologised for the delay, with a spokesman saying the company would offer refunds for the cost of the trips.

(BMcC/GK)

Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

16 September 2003
New Channel Tunnel rail link opened
The Prime Minister has opened the first section of the new Channel Tunnel Rail Link at London's Waterloo Station today. The new section will allow trains to run at up to 186 miles per hour, reducing journey times from London to Paris to nearly two and a half hours.
24 September 2009
Legal Challenge On New Power Station
Campaigners have lodged papers at the Court of Session in Edinburgh which may halt the construction of a new power station in Ayrshire, it has been reported. Action group, Communities Opposed to New Coal at Hunterston (Conch), has appealed for a judicial review of the plans for the coal-fired power station at Hunterston.
03 June 2005
Study links power lines to childhood leukaemia
Children who live near power lines are more likely to develop leukaemia, a team of scientists has claimed. Researchers from Oxford University found that children who lived within 200 metres of high voltage power lines had a 70% higher chance of developing leukaemia than those children who lived more than 600 metres away from the power cables.
30 July 2003
Eurostar smashes rail speed record
Eurostar, the fast train service linking the UK with France and Belgium, today shattered the speed record for the fastest ever train in the UK – achieving 208mph (334.7km/h) as it ran through Kent on the new Channel Tunnel Rail Link. The record-breaking run took place during safety testing on CTRL Section 1.
22 September 2008
Eurostar Resuming Full Service After Fire
Eurotunnel trains departing from St Pancras are expected to be running at full capacity by the end of the week. Freight trains will run at approximately 90% capacity. The first of three 10.5mile sections of track in the north tunnel should be reopened today. A second section is to be opened by Wednesday.