Power supply failure at Ashford International causing long Eurostar delays
Published: 13:30, 11 June 2023
Updated: 19:55, 11 June 2023
Travellers have been facing hours of delays with Eurostar services and high speed trains hit due to a power supply problem.
Ashford International was struck with an issue yesterday, which wasn’t able to be fixed overnight, resulting in a knock on effect for customers.
People trying to get on the Eurostar – both in London and Paris – have told of being left to wait for hours due to the issue with crowded platforms.
Caroline Lezny tweeted: “What’s the plan to refund everyone like me who’s been stuck on a train at the channel entrance for almost 3 hours? I can assure you I’m never traveling Eurostar again after this.”
While Jerry Alderson added: “The announcements at the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras are a joke.
“Every time a train is scheduled to leave we get automated boarding announcements.
“Trouble is, no trains are leaving at all, because of OLE problems on HS1, but no-one has thought to turn off the announcements.”
Other passengers said they had given up trying to travel and had returned home due to the chaos at the stations and reporting a lack of information.
The travel company said: “Our services are currently delayed due a temporary partial track closure in Kent. We apologise for the impact to travel today.
“We’re sorry, our trains are delayed because part of the track is temporarily closed near Ashford. Trains and stations are very busy today.”
Domestic services between Ashford and Ebbsfleet International on the high speed line have also been suspended due to a faulty signal, but this has since been resolved.
A spokesman for Southeastern earlier told customers: “Repairs to the power supply could not be completed overnight, so only one line is available between Ashford International station and the high speed line today.
“High speed services may be delayed by up to 10 minutes near Ashford International because of a fault with the power supply closing one of the lines used by high speed trains.”
At 4.15pm Southeastern confirmed the fault had been fixed and trains were now running but with delays across the network.
The company said: “Trains are now able to run between Ebbsfleet and Ashford International.
“Trains across our high speed network may be revised or cancelled as we work to get your trains back on time.”
Services between St Pancras and in to Kent will be finishing earlier than usual to allow Network Rail engineers to complete repairs tonight, Southeastern said.
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Sean McPolin