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Eurotunnel passengers stranded inside for hours after train issue
Travellers were eventually evacuated, having to leave their cars and walk down a service tunnel to a replacement cargo train
Eurotunnel passengers found themselves stuck inside the Channel Tunnel from Calais to Folkestone for around five hours yesterday (August 23) after alarms sounded inside their train.
Travellers were eventually evacuated and had to abandon their vehicles and walk through the central service tunnel to a cargo train which took them to Folkestone.
Passengers were left stranded in the Eurotunnel after a train broke down.
— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 24, 2022
Travellers reportedly had to abandon their vehicles and were being escorted on foot after the issue inside the railway tunnel.
Read more: https://t.co/Jo9nzHSzHq pic.twitter.com/775vVKF5YD
The affected passengers were travelling on the 15:50 service from Calais, when alarms sounded and the train stopped for a full inspection.
One of the evacuees, Michael Harrison, told PA news agency: “Approximately 10 minutes in the lights went out and the train stopped.
Mr Harrison said they were told "they needed to investigate an issue with the wheels", which "took approximately one and a half hours for them to investigate and obviously not find anything.”
The train did start moving but “it happened again, at which time we waited a further couple of hours to decide they couldn’t see a problem but had to evacuate the train.
We've been caught in the trap for over 4 hours. Had we been given any info sooner we never would have entered the trap in the first place. pic.twitter.com/rdpSbJsC7G
— Jonel Schwarz (@jonel_schwarz) August 23, 2022
"After further waiting we left the train through the emergency link tunnel to the service tunnel.
"We then walked approximately 10 minutes [for] a train in front of the stricken train.” The passengers eventually boarded this replacement service at 20:22.
"This was a bus carriage where we got transported to Folkestone,” Mr Harrison said. “That train then stopped as it couldn't get traction, presumably as it was long and had no weight on it. There were gasps of incredulity when that was announced.
I was on the broken down train. Now sitting on a cargo train that has trouble gaining traction. pic.twitter.com/qa0AYPsulh
— Michael Harrison (@Michael84143013) August 23, 2022
"We finally arrived in Folkestone six hours after boarding."
‘Walking into the abyss’
Another evacuee, Sarah Fellows, told PA that: “The service tunnel was terrifying. It was like a disaster movie. You were just walking into the abyss and not knowing what was happening. We all had to stay under the sea in this big queue.
“There was a woman crying in the tunnel, another woman having a panic attack who was travelling alone.”
Others complained of the heat in the tunnel and the replacement train, where there was no air conditioning.
Another passenger told PA: "If I've got a gripe it's that they knew several-hundred people were arriving at Folkestone who hadn't eaten for five, six or more hours and there was absolutely nothing for us here,” they added.
"Just huge queues for Burger King."
A Eurotunnel Le Shuttle spokesperson said during the evening that: “A train has broken down in the tunnel and we are in the process of transferring customers to a separate passenger shuttle via the service tunnel, to return to our Folkestone terminal.
"We apologise sincerely for this inconvenience."
The operator also advised people travelling from Calais to postpone their trip until after 06:00 this morning (August 24), as images on social media showed a backlog of traffic queueing at the terminal late into the evening.
Attention customers travelling from Calais to Folkestone.
— LeShuttle (@LeShuttle) August 23, 2022
Due to the earlier train fault, we advise you not to travel to the terminal tonight.
Please arrive after 6am tomorrow.
Apologies for the delay. pic.twitter.com/SE13NDWmd3
Hello @LeShuttle. Sitting in the boarding queue at Calais with no idea how long we will be waiting. Been here 4 hours so far. Any worthwhile and meaningful updates on the situation much appreciated #eurotunnel
— Bruce Atkinson (@bruceatkinson17) August 23, 2022
The Eurotunnel, at 31 miles long, is the longest railway tunnel in the world, with the longest underwater section of any tunnel in the world.
𝗥𝗧𝗘 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀: Eurotunnel passengers forced to leave train under sea https://t.co/Y2UCHkLwSI or https://t.co/tpPXMoNP4w pic.twitter.com/LIkDSnbDrV
— 🔽...just @Sussex_Jones 🔽 (@Sussex_Jones) August 24, 2022
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