Channel tunnel operator announces ‘gradual’ train traffic resumption
Just in! The Channel tunnel operator has announced there will be a ’gradual’ resumption to train traffic later today, the AFP newswire report.
The Channel tunnel’s operator Getlink said train traffic would progressively resume on Tuesday afternoon, after Eurostar said earlier today it was suspending all trains to and from London due to a power supply outage.
“There was an incident on Tuesday morning related to a failure of power supply to trains in the tunnel, requiring a technical intervention currently underway on the cables,” a spokeswoman said, adding traffic should gradually resume from 1400 GMT.
Key events
Chaos at St Pancras as heartbroken passengers face missing holiday celebrations
Aneesa Ahmed
At St Pancras station, the station was in chaos earlier today as Eurostar passengers were “stuck in a limbo” waiting for further updates, my colleague Aneesa Ahmed reports.
Announcements were being made that trains had been suspended due to electrical failures in the Channel tunnel. Passengers were frantically on their phones and waiting for information about refunds from their ticket-providers, while many were searching for flights to France and Belgium.
Eurostar passengers had sprawled out beyond just the designated Eurostar area of the station, and were sat in the waiting areas further out. Almost everyone in the station was in a stressed state, and there was a shared sadness over the prospect of missed holiday celebrations.
Sally, who had travelled from Leicester with her sons to catch the 1.20pm train to Brussels to spend New Years Eve, was sat waiting for further information.
“We really just want to find out what’s going on…we’re just stuck in a limbo,” she said.
“From an insurance perspective, we can’t see what we can do from here as we need confirmation that trains have been cancelled before action can be taken.”
Meanwhile, Jack Slater had just come to the decision to cancel his New Year’s Eve trip to Paris with his girlfriend. “We’re being advised to re-book for tomorrow, but all of the trains are fully booked already so the only option would be to upgrade to a first class seat – which is an extra lot of money,” he said.
The pair had been planning this trip since the summer, and were heartbroken to be missing it. The flights were either fully booked, or too expensive, leaving them with no choice but to cancel. When they showed The Guardian their tickets on the Trainline app, it said that it was still due to run – even though it had been cancelled.
Matt Orien came from Seattle in the US with his family. They had planned this trip to Europe for 9 months, and after spending four days in London they were planning to head to France for New Year’s Eve. “This is disappointing, but we have a friend who is helping us out with admin so we’ll hopefully have a way to get there,” he said.
“We’re doing okay and we’ll find a way to have fun… we feel sorry for the people that are stuck in the train, in the tunnel.”
Channel tunnel operator announces ‘gradual’ train traffic resumption
Just in! The Channel tunnel operator has announced there will be a ’gradual’ resumption to train traffic later today, the AFP newswire report.
The Channel tunnel’s operator Getlink said train traffic would progressively resume on Tuesday afternoon, after Eurostar said earlier today it was suspending all trains to and from London due to a power supply outage.
“There was an incident on Tuesday morning related to a failure of power supply to trains in the tunnel, requiring a technical intervention currently underway on the cables,” a spokeswoman said, adding traffic should gradually resume from 1400 GMT.
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Crowds of passengers are also gathering at Gare du Nord station, near the departure hall to catch a eurostar train to London:
London-Paris eurostar services ‘interrupted until the end of the day’
Passengers at Paris’s Gare du Nord station are being told that services are “interrupted until the end of the day” between the UK and French capitals.
Eurostar suspends ’all trains’ to and from London
Eurostar has now reportedly suspended its cross-Channel train services to and from London, following the power supply problem in the Channel tunnel.
A Eurostar spokesperson said (via the AFP newswire):
“There was a power supply problem in the Channel tunnel, followed by a shuttle train coming to a halt inside.
“All journeys to and from London are suspended until further notice.”
As reported earlier (see here) the LeShuttle car transport services have also been suspended. Le Shuttle now say services are “temporarily suspended for up to 3 hours”.
Here’s a photo of the queue to enter the Eurotunnel LeShuttle site in Folkestone in Kent:
Photos: Passengers wait at St Pancras
LeShuttle services temporarily suspended due to power problem
LeShuttle, the railway service that transports road vehicles and their passengers through the Channel tunnel between Folkestone and Calais, is also affected by the power problem.
It says:
Services are temporarily suspended for both terminals due to a power supply issue. We are working hard to resolve this. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.
Lieutenant-Colonel Dean Pallant MBE, who leads Die Heilsarmee (the Salvation Army) in Germany, Poland and Lithuania, reports there are lines of cars at Folkestone, waiting to take the trip to Calais.
Reuters: Eurostar spokesperson: all Eurostar services to and from London suspended until further notice
Reuters are reporting that a Eurostar spokesperson has said all Eurostar services to and from London are “suspended until further notice”.
That’s sickening news for passengers hoping to get away, or home, in time for the new year.
However, several trains are not marked as cancelled or suspended, yet, on the Eurostar train status page….
The six Eurostar services to or from London cancelled so far are:
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ES 9032: The 14.31 from London St Pancras International to Paris Gare du Nord
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ES 9141: The 14.52 from Brussels Midi / Zuid to London St Pancras International
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ES 9039: The 15.12 from Paris Gare du Nord to London St Pancras International
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ES 9036: The 15.31 from London St Pancras International to Paris Gare du Nord
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ES 9148: The 17.04 from London St Pancras International to Brussels Midi / Zuid
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ES 9047: The 17.12 from Paris Gare du Nord to London St Pancras International
One Eurostar passenger confirms via X that they have been delayed:
Stuck on @eurostar to Paris just outside the London tunnel entrance. First due to the power supply and now because the previous train to Brussels is broken down in the tunnel.
— Dee Coyle (@00gidg00) December 30, 2025
Here is the latest status update from Eurostar:
Status update
Due to a problem with the overhead power supply in the Channel tunnel and a subsequent failed Le Shuttle train, our trains are likely to be subject to severe delays and last-minute cancellations.
Your train is currently scheduled to run, but your journey could be disrupted. We strongly advise all our passengers to postpone their journey to a different date. Please don’t come to the station unless you already have a ticket to travel.
Eurostar warns of severe delays and cancellations due to power supply issues in Channel tunnel
Newsflash: Eurostar is advising customers not to travel on its service today, following a problem with the overhead power supply in the Channel tunnel.
Eurostar is “strongly” advising all its passengers to postpone their journey to a different date, due to the power problem and a “subsequent failed Le Shuttle train”.
It is urging customers not to come to the station unless they already have a ticket to travel, and warning that trains could suffer severe delays and last-minute cancellations.
Six trains this afternoon, from St Pancras, Brussels and Paris, have been cancelled (details here). Some other services have been delayed.
The end of December is a time for forecasts… and Costas Milas, professor of finance at the University of Liverpool, predicts that central banks in America and Britain face a challenging 2026.
In the UK, the Bank of England is faced with an underperforming economy, but one where inflation is still over target – and where strong unions could push wages up faster than productivity.
The US Federal Reserve, meanwhile, has Donald Trump breathing down its neck demanding interest rate cuts.
In a blog post for the London School of Economics, Professor Milas predicts:
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Inflation persistence, which has risen over time, will keep UK interest rates higher than longer.
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Meanwhile the Bank of England’s Quantitative Tightening policy and Britain’s trade union movement are pushing inflation to opposite directions.
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Bigger interest rate cuts in the US will surely stoke further inflation pressures and shake the confidence of international investors in the Fed. In such an unwelcome scenario, the Fed would suffer huge reputational damage which would then undermine its ability to effectively tackle future financial crises.
FTSE 100 approaching record high
Britain’s FTSE 100 index has hit a six-week high this morning, as it nudges closer to a new record.
The index of blue-chip shares listed in London has gained 27 points to 9,904 points this morning, up almost 0.4%, with mining stocks and banks in the top risers.
That takes the index to its highest level since 13 November, the day after it reached its record high of 9,930 points…..
