Eurostar hit by power outage at peak of New Year tourist season

Eurostar on Tuesday urged its passengers to change their travel plans as a problem with overhead power forced the closure of the Channel Tunnel.

“Due to a problem with the overhead power supply and a Le Shuttle train breakdown, the Channel Tunnel is currently closed. Unfortunately, this means we have no choice but to suspend all services today until further notice,” Eurostar said in a statement warning of a “major disruption” to its website.

“Please do not show up at the station. We are very sorry for the impact this situation may have on your travel plans,” the company said.

The disruption brings one of Europe’s busiest international rail corridors to a near-total halt during the New Year tourist season.

Photos released showed dozens of people sitting around their bags at St. Pancras station in London, as well as long queues as passengers waited to enter the Eurotunnel site at Folkestone in Kent.

A statement LeShuttle, which provides a rail service for people and their vehicles between Folkestone in the UK and Calais in France via the Channel Tunnel, said services had been “temporarily suspended” for up to three hours due to a power supply problem. LeShuttle apologized for any inconvenience caused.

The Eurostar service, on the other hand, is reserved for passengers traveling to cities like Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.

Getlink, which owns and operates the Channel Tunnel infrastructure, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC.

Eurostar, which serves London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, carried 19.5 million passengers in 2024, marking the most successful year in its history.