A cancer patient who was taking her family to Disneyland is among the thousands of passengers whose travel plans were ruined by Eurostar cancellations on Tuesday.
The train network was forced to cancel almost all of its London-Europe services after issues in the Channel Tunnel, including a failed Le Shuttle train.
The Buckmire Edwards family left King’s Cross St Pancras at 7am only to be stranded “for hours and hours” outside the Channel Tunnel. They were later brought back to London.
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Mum Ethlyn told Sky News she had spent £3,500 on a dream trip to Disneyland to celebrate her son’s 10th birthday with her partner and 10-month-old baby.
She said they did not take out travel insurance because her cancer diagnosis made the premiums too expensive – so they now face losing all the money.
“We are going to try and go home and salvage the rest of the holiday season and try and celebrate his birthday some other way,” she said, “but to be honest, I don’t have the energy, I really don’t. We were so looking forward to that trip.”
Dante, nine, said: “It’s been quite a journey because ever since my mum has been through cancer, she has been having a baby, chemotherapy, she has still coped, so I think she is doing a very great job.”
“I’m very proud of this journey that she has been through,” he added.
Family ‘stranded’ with no hotel booking
While the Buckmire Edwards said they would return to their London home, passengers from further afield faced being stranded in the capital just one day before New Year’s Eve.
Charles Nduka-Eze said his family, from Nigeria, were having “a complete disaster” after their Paris-bound train was turned back to London.
The group had checked out of a London hotel and had already paid for their hotel rooms in the French capital, as well as tickets for Disneyland and river cruises.
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Speaking at King’s Cross St Pancras, he said: “I’m not concerned about the refund for now, I’m thinking about what to do.
“We don’t know what’s going on so I’ve got a sister over there trying to find out what’s the next thing to do because we’re just confused, to be honest.”
His sister added that the group were now “stranded”.
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‘Romance on hold’ as NYE minibreak is ruined
Meanwhile, a man travelling to Paris for New Year’s Eve with his partner said “We’ll have to put romance on hold.”
John Paul, from Peterborough, was gifted the trip as a surprise from his partner Lucy and the pair spent five hours on a Paris-bound train before it unexpectedly returned to London.
Speaking at King’s Cross St Pancras, the 46-year-old said: “I think the thing is, at the minute, there’s no clear information and obviously, we’ve lost a lot of money, haven’t we?”
Paul said they had a river cruise in Paris and the Eiffel Tower booked for the evening.
Eurostar initially told passengers to postpone their journeys, before later suspending all trains to and from London until further notice.
It later said some services would resume but “strongly advised” all passengers to refrain from travelling.
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The Eurostar trains were unable to operate due to an issue with the overhead power supply in the Channel Tunnel and a subsequent failed Le Shuttle train, which was moved from the tunnel on Tuesday afternoon.
Eurostar operations across Europe were also affected.
In Folkestone, Kent, queues formed as Le Shuttle services were postponed and delayed. They gradually resumed on Tuesday afternoon.
