Sunday, a breakdown in the Channel Tunnel caused the total interruption of traffic in both directions for several hours. Traffic has resumed.
Traffic in the Channel Tunnel between France and Britain resumed Sunday early in the afternoon after an electrical failure that led to the total interruption of traffic in both directions for several hours.
“The service has resumed, the first Eurostar were able to enter the tunnel,” told AFP a spokesman for the group Eurotunnel, which operates the Channel Tunnel, shortly before 1.30pm (11.30 GMT).
Passenger and cargo traffic had been paralyzed on both sides since mid-morning.
A “rare” failure
“There was a power failure on the French side terminal, so we suspended the service on the French side, and when we suspend on one side, we must also suspend on the other side. It has been almost two hours, “Eurotunnel had previously explained, information that had been confirmed by the cross-Channel rail company Eurostar (a subsidiary of SNCF) that operates the line.
No trains had been blocked under the tunnel with passengers, it was said.
This type of failure, and of such magnitude, is “extremely rare,” said Eurotunnel.
Last failure in 2016
In October 2016, traffic in the Channel Tunnel had been interrupted for five hours due to a power supply problem, but prior to this failure there had been no such event for several years.
This Sunday, about two trains with passengers leave every hour on each side of the Channel, the same sources said.
