Passengers in London have been hit by chaos on one of the busiest travel days of the year – with trains cancelled from Euston and a last-minute strike by Eurotunnel staff.
Tens of thousands of Christmas getaway journeys are thought to have been affected by the major disruption on Thursday.
All cross-Channel Eurostar services have been halted from midday until 7pm, following a last-minute strike by Eurotunnel staff at operator Getlink.
All travellers heading between St Pancras and the continent have been urged to “postpone their travel today if possible”, as photos showed huge crowds of passengers stranded at the terminal.
The strike is affecting Eurostar – which operates passenger services to and from London St Pancras – and Eurotunnel Le Shuttle, which runs vehicle-carrying trains to and from Folkestone. At least 24 Eurostar trains have been cancelled.
It is also having a knock-on effect on roads, as Kent Police has temporarily shut the M20 coastbound carriageway between Junctions 8 and 9.
One Eurostar passenger, Janette Kadriu, wrote on social media platform X she had been due to travel on Thursday evening but had been forced to reschedule for Friday.
“Everyone expecting us for Christmas, virtually impossible to book something else this close to holidays,” she wrote. “Total nightmare”.
Another user slammed striking staff, writing: “What a vile thing to do with no notice. I’m at St Pancras, lots of folk waiting for info, some in wheel chairs, young families, babies in prams, many upset, all massively inconvenienced.”
Meanwhile trains from London Euston were “severely disrupted” on Thursday after overhead wires near Hemel Hempstead were damaged.
There was also travel chaos at Heathrow airport after two dozen domestic and European flights to and from the transport hub were cancelled by British Airways due to Storm Pia.
All trains from London Euston were suspended earlier on Thursday, but Network Rail said shortly after 3pm some services were beginning to resume.
It said an emergency timetable would be run when services resumed on Thursday afternoon, with disruption expected.
Hundreds of passengers were left stranded outside the station after the gates were drawn shut to stop them from entering.
One passenger wrote on social media site X that his “daughter with disabilities and learning issues is in tears”, while another said their Christmas plans had been “ruined last minute”.
Engineers were on Thursday afternoon assessing the damage after a serious fault was detected on the overhead wires at Watford Junction.
Network Rail said it was working to fix the issue, with one of the wires that supplies power to trains on the West Coast Main Line at Bourne End, Buckinghamshire.
Christmas chaos at Euston Station right now! All trains are cancelled due to overhead electric wires being down at Watford Junction – if only I was ‘Driving Home For Christmas’. Bedlam! pic.twitter.com/jsgmBw8KUR
— Neil Hassall (@neilhassall) December 21, 2023
London Euston now. Passengers locked out because overhead lines have come down on the tracks.
Coincidentally this suits those who would restrict movement deter people from travelling as per #NetZero goals pic.twitter.com/0MjzXZpZRl— Francis O’Neill (@FrancisxONeill) December 21, 2023
Teams were working to get at least two of the four tracks through the area opened, to allow an emergency timetable to run.
All lines are currently blocked through the area until further notice, according to London Northwestern Railway.
Replacement buses are currently running from Northampton to Milton Keynes, and from Milton Keynes to Watford Junction.
While separately disruption from Euston was taking place on Avanti West Coast services from Euston to Manchester, when all lines were blocked on Thursday morning after a bag was caught on power lines.
James Dean, Network Rail’s West Coast South route director, said on Thursday afternoon: “I’m sorry to passengers impacted by the overhead lines coming down near Euston station and the major disruption to journeys this is causing.
“Our team of engineers are onsite and assessing the damage, but it is too early to know what has caused it. Our focus is on fixing the issue as soon as possible.
“I’d urge people to check www.nationalrail.co.uk before they set off on their journey while we work hard to get passengers safely back on the move.”
Network Rail said a previous issue caused by a tree falling on the railway near Newark on the East Coast Main Line, had been fixed and trains were running from King’s Cross, with delays.
Network Rail previously told passengers in a statement: “Our engineers are working to remove a bag that has been caught on the overhead power line between Stoke and Crewe.”
London Northwestern services between Stafford and Crewe were also affected.
Due to a last-minute strike by Eurotunnel staff, no Channel Tunnel crossings have taken place since midday on Thursday.
A Eurostar spokesperson said: “Unfortunately, Eurostar has had to cancel all trains to and from London until further notice.
Customers affected will receive direct communication about their journey and can exchange their tickets free of charge or claim a refund.
We are closely monitoring the situation as it evolves and, our teams are currently working to minimise the impact on our customers.”
Currently, it is not possible for passengers to reserve train tickets for Thursday departures through the Eurostar website.
A spokesperson for Eurostar added: “Customers affected will receive direct communication about their journey and we recommend that travellers postpone their travel today if possible.
“We are closely monitoring the situation as it evolves, and any further updates will be communicated as soon as possible.”
Getlink, the French company which operates the Channel Tunnel, said: “Today’s call for strike action by representatives of Eurotunnel’s French site staff unions has resulted in the complete interruption of service and the closure of our terminals in France and the UK.”Meanwhile, high winds caused by Storm Pia were also affecting train services mainly in the north of the country, including areas all of Scotland, north Wales, plus parts of East Anglia, the Midlands, north west and north east of England.
It came as South Western Railway warned of severe disruption on some of its services from Waterloo on Wednesday 27 to Friday December 29 because of landslip repairs.
The train company advised passengers to only travel if absolutely necessary on those days.
Affected services are those that run between Woking and Basingstoke.
South Western said this was because it needed to access two of the four tracks to repair a landslip that occurred in late November.
On all three days, some of the first services from London Waterloo through Woking and Basingstoke will start later each day, at around 7am.
Some stations may not be directly served from Waterloo, such as Alton or Brookwood, while others will only have a once-per-hour service.
Stuart Meek, South Western Railway’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “This is a complex repair that our colleagues at Network Rail have been working hard to complete.
“To make more progress, they will once again require access to two of the four tracks in the area which, while disruptive, is the best option available.
“As we will only have half the number of tracks available, we will need to reduce our services as we did some weeks ago. Our advice to customers is that, if their trains run between Woking and Basingstoke, they should only travel if absolutely necessary.”
