Eurostar trains between London and Paris are experiencing minor delays after a “major technical fault” late yesterday, according to the rail operator.The 8:43 p.m. Paris to London train broke down yesterday because of a fault that is under investigation, Bram Smets, a spokesman for Eurostar Group Ltd., said today by telephone. Passengers were evacuated onto another train, with a total delay of 4 hours and 33 minutes, he said. Eurostar issued refunds and gave passengers a free round-trip ticket for a future trip.
Eurostar is operating a limited service between the U.K. and Brussels after a commuter train crash in Belgium on Feb. 15 that killed 18 people. The company is currently offering three return services a day and reiterated today that it intends to resume a full Brussels schedule by March 2.
All Eurostar rail service was suspended for three days before Christmas because locomotives were insufficiently prepared for winter and the company neglected maintenance of seals that allowed snow to penetrate electrical systems, according to a study commissioned to help the train operator prevent future breakdowns.Procedures for evacuating people from the tunnel under the English Channel were also inadequate and Eurostar failed to communicate sufficiently with customers stranded at stations, according to the report.Smets declined to specify the nature of last night’s train fault.
Santosamaru 