Eurostar and Le Shuttle hit by power, technical failures during New Year travel, causing major delays and resumed services with warnings of further disruption

Eurostar and Le Shuttle services between London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam suffered major disruptions over New Year peak, stranding thousands and causing widespread cancellations and travel chaos.

A power failure on Tuesday halted traffic through the Channel Tunnel's 31-mile rail link, prompting safety checks, single-line operations and immediate infrastructure assessments by engineers.

A UK-network technical fault left passengers overnight; Eurostar 9152 reached Lille some 11 hours late at 06:30 GMT for an 80-minute route — operators supplied water.

Operators said services would resume Wednesday but warned further disruption was likely as engineers continued repairs; safety checks and rolling delays prioritized passenger safety over schedule restoration.

Affected passengers were offered refunds, rebooking or advised to postpone travel; Eurostar's nearly 20 million travelers last year underscore both its popularity and vulnerability to single-point failures.