Hundreds of Eurostar passengers faced a miserable night trapped on a stationary train, as major disruption to Channel Tunnel services continued into the early hours of Wednesday 31 December 2025.
A Night Stuck in the Dark
Passenger Francis Collings described how his Eurostar service from London's St Pancras International to Paris "ground to a halt" somewhere outside Folkestone at approximately 9.15pm on Tuesday. The situation worsened when the power was switched off around 11pm, leaving passengers with only low-level emergency lighting.
"About four hours ago, maybe about at 11pm at night, the power was turned off," Mr Collings told Sky News. "So we have lighting, but it's low lighting, but this seems to have affected the toilets, which don't seem to want to flush."
Six hours after the initial stop, passengers remained in limbo. Conflicting information swirled about the cause, with talk of a fault in the tunnel, a problem with the train itself, and a need to clear other stranded services first.
Chaos and an 'Information Vacuum'
Mr Collings, a freelance journalist based in Paris, praised train staff for being "very attentive" by handing out water and chocolate, but noted they did not seem to "know entirely what's going on themselves".
The real frustration stemmed from a severe lack of clear communication from Eurostar. He described "utter chaos" at St Pancras, where staff were forced to shout announcements over deep crowds. On the stranded train, updates were sporadic, arriving only once every hour or hour and a half.
"Some of the messages are a bit convoluted," he said. "I don't really understand where the fault is, where we're going, when, or how. We could do with more information. There's a bit of an information vacuum."
Ironically, passengers initially felt they "were the lucky ones" as their 7pm service had not been cancelled outright, finally departing at 8.45pm before stalling minutes later.
Wider Disruption and a Ruined New Year
The incident was part of a much larger travel meltdown. Eurostar and Le Shuttle services were suspended for much of Tuesday following a power supply failure linked to a technical fault, compounded by a failed Le Shuttle train blocking routes.
The disruption upended New Year's Eve plans for thousands of passengers across London, Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam during one of the busiest travel periods of the year.
Although Eurostar attempted a gradual resumption of services from around 3pm on Tuesday, significant problems persisted. By the early hours of Wednesday, the first morning trains to Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam were listed as cancelled, while Le Shuttle reported delays of at least an hour.
Infrastructure operator Getlink confirmed repairs to the power supply were ongoing and that traffic was being slowly restored in both directions. "Our teams are working to restore the situation as quickly as possible," a statement said.
Despite the ordeal, Mr Collings reported the mood on his stranded train remained "pretty good", with passengers resigned to their fate. "Not an ideal end to the year," he remarked, "but you know, that's the way it is."
