Eurostar has apologised to around 1,250 passengers who were left stranded in darkness and without heating for up to eight hours last night when two overhead power cables snapped at the same time.
One train, travelling from London to Brussels with 600 passengers on board, was stranded just outside Lille from around 8pm until 4.40am while passengers waited for a diesel-powered train to rescue them.
Another train, travelling between London and Paris and carrying 650 passengers, was also forced to stop for more than six hours.
The trains eventually arrived at their destinations – the Brussels train nine hours late and the Paris train six hours late.
The break-downs caused disruption to later trains and three services have been cancelled today – the 10.30 Paris-London, the 10.56 Brussels-London and the 14.04 London-Brussels.
Angry passengers took to Twitter to complain about being left in darkness.
Eurostar apologised for the long delays and offered full refunds and free future return trips to passengers affected. Those on the Brussels train were offered double refunds.
A spokesman said it was rare for two overhead power lines to fail at the same time. He said staff were on board to help passengers and to provide refreshments.
Passengers were not allowed off the trains for safety reasons.
