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Eurostar chaos blamed on old trains
Friday February 12, 2010 - Email this article to a friend
The company has come in for strong criticism after snow and cold temperatures halted trains just before Christmas. It disrupted the travel plans of many driving to The Alps.
2,500 passengers were trapped in the Channel Tunnel for over 5 hours when the trains broke down.
Some were there for even longer.
There was a huge knock on effect as the channel tunnel was closed for days while checks were conducted and investigations carried out.
For details on the incident see the information within this story from the time on PlanetSKI.
A report blames it on old and badly maintained rolling stock.
At the time it was said fine powdery snow that got into the engines and now there's a call for improvements to stop snow getting into the engines. It calls for the trains to be better prepared for the wintery conditions.
An independent review went on to say that the plans for helping the stranded passengers were insufficient. As well as being trapped for many hours most had no access to food and water either.
What happened was that the fine snow got into the engines and then when the train entered the warmer tunnel it melted and short-circuited the electrical systems.
The report makes a series of recommendations both for preparing the trains better and having proper plans in place for evacuation and looking after passengers.
The changes will cost £30m.
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