Eurostar suspends services for third day

Eurostar has said there will be no services for a third day on Monday while further tests are carried out on its fleet of trains.

But commercial director Nick Mercer said engineers have now pinpointed the cause of electrical problems and he hoped services would resume shortly.

Thousands of passengers were trapped on five trains in the Channel Tunnel on Friday and Saturday in wintry weather.

The company is transporting 500 of its "most vulnerable" passengers to France.

Flights grounded

Mr Mercer said severe snowy conditions in northern France has caused snow to be ingested into trains in a way never seen before.

He said tests would be carried out on Monday with new modifications and it was hoped there would be an announcement later in the day that services would be able to resume.

On Sunday evening an emergency plan was introduced to put 'vulnerable' stranded passengers on Javelin trains to Dover to catch ferries and then coaches on to Paris and Brussels.

The company ran test trains without passengers on Sunday after five trains broke down in the tunnel on Friday when condensation affected electrical systems.

Another train, which had been laid on to try to clear the backlog, suffered the same fate on Saturday night.

Those stranded complained of a lack of food and drink, power supplies and information and there were further problems when some rescue trains themselves broke down.

A Eurostar spokeswoman said: "We have managed to get 500 passengers on to a Javelin high-speed train to Dover Priory and from there we bussed then on to a ferry to take them on to Paris and Brussels.

"They were the most vulnerable people, who needed to get back home to France and Belgium."

No arrangements were in place for Britons stuck in France, she added.

Meanwhile, severe weather warnings remain in place in northern parts of the UK and freezing conditions have continued to disrupt travel.

Snow fell in Northern Ireland, western Scotland and north-western parts of England, and temperatures are expected to remain below freezing.

Ambulance services have urged people to take extra care walking and driving and to wrap up warm.

At Bristol International Airport hundreds of people were stranded when Easyjet scrapped five flights.

Flights were grounded for 90 minutes at Manchester Airport on Sunday morning as staff moved snow and de-iced a runway.

There have been delays at Belfast International Airport after it closed but later reopened, and Inverness Airport has also been disrupted.

'Out of touch'

Eurostar passenger Claire McKinney Williams, who is 35 weeks pregnant and unable to fly, was stranded at a hotel in Brussels.

She told the BBC: "It's been very disruptive. We haven't had any help, we've been over to Eurostar in the station, and they've not been very helpful, they haven't given us any help on alternative ways home or anything."

Clearly, if you're on a train stranded in a tunnel, it is a distressing experience Richard Brown Eurostar chief executive

Eurostar chief executive Richard Brown asked people not to travel unless it was essential.

He said: "When we resume service it's going to be very busy, we're not going to be able to carry everyone who's booked yesterday, today and during this week."

Passengers who have suffered delays will be offered a full refund, £150 compensation and a free return ticket.

The compensation would be offered until the backlog of passengers was cleared and the service was back to normal.

Nirj Deva, Conservative MEP for the South East of England, said he wanted the Eurostar chief executive to step down.

The company had not been adequately prepared for the situation, and Mr Brown should therefore "do the decent thing" and resign, he said.

Mr Brown told BBC Breakfast he was "very, very sorry" for the inconvenience and described events as "unprecedented".

He admitted it had taken a "very long time" to evacuate people from the trains.

"Clearly, if you're on a train stranded in a tunnel, it is a distressing experience," he said.

He conceded it took too long to get trains out to people and said while trains had spare water, it ran out.

Shadow transport secretary Theresa Villiers said the disruption was a "catastrophe" for people trapped trying to get home for Christmas.

She said: "After a reprieve from BA strikes, it is a huge concern to see travellers hit so hard by this crisis."

On Sunday, all ferry services from Dover to Dunkirk, Boulogne and Calais were running, and traffic queues had eased.

The Port of Dover said traffic was running freely on the A2 and A20 into Dover, and freight traffic stuck on the M20 was being called forward in batches to be shipped across the Channel.