Eurostar disruptions entered their second day as hundreds of trains were canceled across the country, leaving passengers with their New Year’s Eve plans thrown into disarray.
Floods and staff shortages have led to train cancellations and delays, with warnings that worsening weather could worsen the disruption.
This comes as tens of thousands of Eurostar customers, whose trains were canceled due to tunnel flooding on Saturday, were left with no additional service, as Eurostar was unable to provide additional services despite trains restarting on Sunday morning. It happened in the face of turmoil.
Both tunnels are now operational again, but travel disruptions have spread, with up to 36,000 passengers vying for seats on Sunday’s trains, many of which were already full. .
Waiting for passengers at the Eurostar entrance concourse at St Pancras International Station on Saturday.
(PA wire)
As the first Eurostar train left London’s St Pancras International Airport for Paris just after 8am, some passengers were queuing at the station to book tickets.
Maes Bart and Lievens Nelle, both 45, said Saturday’s train was canceled, so they were hoping to find a spot on the train back to Brussels on Sunday so they could enjoy the New Year’s countdown with their two daughters. I waited in long lines to buy tickets.
Bart said: “My ticket was canceled yesterday so if I want a new ticket I have to queue here. I hope I get it. I hope I can go home today. We don’t know if we have tickets, so we have to wait.” No matter how much I wait, it doesn’t progress any further; it takes a long time. ”
Maes Bart, 45, and his partner Lievens Nelle, 45, from Brussels, hope to return to their daughter in time for the New Year.
(Lucas Cumiskey/PA Wire)
He said they had been queuing for about 30 minutes, adding: “Yesterday we were able to (re)book tickets, but today they were all booked, but now they said there were still seats available on the train. So I hope I’m there now,” he added. is a place for two people, if not tomorrow, but in that case we will not be home on vacation. Our two children are at home. ”
Emilio Fernandes, 22, a French national, also returned to the police station on Sunday with his parents, sister and 4-year-old nephew Amani.
He said: “We were scheduled to leave late (Saturday) but it was canceled in the afternoon. I’m not sure and I’m still very worried.”
Northern Trains issued travel ban notices on December 31 for links from Manchester Victoria to Chester and Stalybridge, and from Manchester Piccadilly to Chester via Altrincham.
(Simon Calder)
Meanwhile, across its domestic network, Northern Trains has issued travel ban notices for December 31 for links from Manchester Victoria to Chester and Stalybridge, and from Manchester Piccadilly to Chester via Altrincham.
Passengers were also warned that there would be no trains running on routes between Preston and Colne, Bolton and Clitheroe and Lancaster and Morecambe on the final day of the year.
The railway company informed passengers that “Due to the absence of our crew, we will be operating reduced frequencies throughout the northwest.”
Staff at Northern Trains, based in the west of the Pennines, do not have a Sunday in their working week, so New Year’s Eve services, like any other Sunday, are reliant on overtime.
Long-distance trains and local trains were canceled one after another in other regions as well. LNER, which connects London’s King’s Cross with Yorkshire, north-east England and Scotland, canceled or reduced the frequency of more than 20 intercity trains on New Year’s Eve.
Most trains on the Thameslink line, which runs through central London between Bedford, Luton, Gatwick and Brighton, have been suspended due to staff shortages.
There will be no normal nighttime service in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day.
The River Ouse burst its banks on Saturday, causing flooding in York.
(Pennsylvania)
The Met Office warned that further disruption could be caused by wind and rain across the UK.
The forecaster said a strong wind warning was in place until midnight Sunday, which could cause some delays to road, rail, air and ferry transport.
A yellow rain warning is in place for parts of the north west, including Manchester, Blackburn, Burnley and Blackpool, from 6pm on Sunday to 6am on Monday, with the possibility of 30-40mm of rain in local areas. be.
The highest wind gusts recorded so far on Sunday were 114mph on the Isle of Wight, 104mph at Mumbles near Swansea and 102mph on the Isles of Scilly.