While the Christmas holidays will cause difficulties on the roads, the Channel Tunnel is completely closing up shop. An unexpected strike action by employees of Getlink, the company managing the Channel Tunnel, led to the closure of the work, through which no trains have passed since Thursday midday.
All Eurostar trains circulating in the tunnel as well as shuttles transporting cars and trucks are therefore blocked until further notice, while the first departures have already started for the holidays. “The union organizations rejected the exceptional bonus of 1,000 euros announced at the end of the year by management and called for a strike to demand a tripling of it,” explained management.
Traveler panic
The announcement of the cancellation of afternoon trains to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam from St-Pancras station in London caused panic among passengers, according to an AFP journalist present on the spot.
The many travelers who were planning to return to France or Belgium for the holidays rushed to their phones to try to change their ticket for the next day, or to quickly book one of the flights still available from the British capital.
Staff taken by surprise
Reception and security agents at the station – who seemed just as caught off guard – also had to remove passengers who had already passed security checks and were on the platform, they told travelers in the lobby .
At the Lille-Europe station, Nick, a 45-year-old British man, was trying to understand what was happening. “We don’t know how we’re going to get back to London today. And given the email we received, it looks like there won’t be any more trains for the day,” he complained.