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This afternoon, Eurostar trains circulating in the tunnel, but also shuttles transporting cars and trucks, were blocked due to a strike by French Eurotunnel employees.
A few days before Christmas and as vacation departures begin, a surprise strike by Eurotunnel employees led to the closure of the Channel Tunnel this Thursday afternoon and created panic in several European stations. A planned walkout which ended around 7:30 p.m., with the unions announcing the end of the strike. According to the latest information, the reopening of the Channel Tunnel is scheduled for this evening.
A surprise strike
It was a surprise strike by French employees of Eurotunnel, a subsidiary of the Getlink group, which caused the closure of the tunnel on Thursday at midday. The social movement led to “the complete interruption of service and the closure of our terminals in France and the United Kingdom», Said Getlink in a press release. Result: no Eurostar can use the structure anymore and the shuttles carrying cars and trucks are also blocked.
“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.», Specified the management. As soon as the cancellation of the trains was announced, the many travelers who were planning to return to France or Belgium for the holidays from London rushed to their phones to try to change their ticket for the next day, or to book in a hurry. one of the flights still available from the British capital.
In the middle of the afternoon, the French Minister of Transport called for finding “immediately» a solution to the surprise strike «unacceptable» triggered Thursday by Eurotunnel employees, which led to the closure of the Channel Tunnel. “The blocking of the Channel Tunnel is unacceptable. A solution must be found immediately. I am committed to it. I call on everyone to be responsible, to ensure traffic and departures on vacation in good conditions», Wrote Clément Beaune on his X account (ex-Twitter).
A wave of panic at the station
The sudden announcement of the cancellation of all trains to the continent at St Pancras station in London caused panic among all passengers waiting for their train. According to an AFP journalist present on site, the reception and security agents at the station – who seemed just as caught off guard – even had to remove passengers who had already passed security checks and were waiting on the dock.
At Gare du Nord in Paris, Eurostar employees announced on a megaphone early in the afternoon that all trains for the rest of the day were canceled. “I had made my passport on purpose», blurted Catherine, 80 years old, visibly disappointed and upset because she was unable to join her son in London. Travelers at the bottom of the platform, like in London, had their eyes glued to their smartphones to find alternative routes.
Ed Basham, a 31-year-old British man who came to visit his girlfriend in Paris, shared his anger: “I’m going to have to sleep at friends’ houses tonight while waiting to find a solution.“. Others were considering more or less complicated journeys like Catherine Leray, who planned with her family to reach Calais, via Lille, by train and then board a ferry to England. The Lille-Europe station was much quieter. Santiago Rodriguez, a Mexican on vacation with his family in Europe, was preparing to find another solution to reach London. “Now we are going to Brussels. It’s horrible to ruin our plans like this“, he told an AFP journalist.
The situation was all the more confusing as messages in English suggested a resumption of traffic around 4 p.m. In Calais, at the entrance to the French terminal where cars and trucks board trains to reach Folkestone on the other side of the strait, long lines of vehicles, lasting more than a kilometer, were beginning to form.