Eurostar Back on Track After Channel Tunnel Shutdown

Eurostar has fully resumed train services through the Channel Tunnel after a complete shutdown on December 29 caused by an overhead power supply failure.

Incident impact

The disruption stranded thousands of passengers traveling between London, Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam during one of the busiest holiday periods of the year.

The incident halted more than 40 daily Eurostar services, along with LeShuttle vehicle crossings, after a power failure in the UK–France tunnel section. Many passengers experienced delays exceeding 6 hours, with some journeys canceled entirely.

Gradual recovery

Eurotunnel maintenance teams worked overnight in confined tunnel conditions to repair damaged catenary lines across a 50-kilometer section. Full operations were restored by December 31, although knock-on delays continued into the following days.

As of January 2, 2026, all routes are operating normally.

Passenger compensation and future upgrades

Minor engineering adjustments will continue through February to strengthen system resilience, and the operator said there has been no recurrence of the issue.

Eurostar has issued full refunds and compensation to affected passengers and stated it is reviewing infrastructure resilience measures to reduce the risk of similar failures during peak travel periods.

Meanwhile, train ticket sellers face growing regulatory pressure. The UK Advertising Standards Authority recently warned several rail ticket retailers after ruling that pricing claims on their websites were misleading. The companies have been instructed to remove or revise the claims and ensure they do not reappear in the same form.

Photo by Samuel Regan-Asante on Unsplash