by Trevor Sturgess

Senior rail experts probing the failure of Eurostar international high-speed services before Christmas say they are making good progress.

Christopher Garnett and Claude Gressier, joint chairmen of the Eurostar Independent Review, were asked to examine what went wrong on December 18 and 19.

Four trains were affected by severe cold and broke down inside the Channel Tunnel, stranding some 2,000 passengers for up to 18 hours. A fifth train broke down and was towed to Ebbsfleet.

Around 100,000 passengers were affected by disruption to services, and further cancellations caused by the snow over the following days.

The fiasco seriously damaged Eurostar’s reputation. Apart from the technical failures, the operator came under fire for its Channel Tunnel evacuation procedures, and poor communication with passengers.

Mr Garnett, who lived in Kent while working as a Eurotunnel director, is former chief executive of late-lamented rail operator GNER. In a joint statement with M Gressier, he said: “We are making good progress with the Independent Review. Everyone is being extremely open and cooperative in helping us understand exactly what happened over the weekend of 18 and 19 December 2009 when the trains broke down in the tunnel.

“We are well advanced with our report but want to take advantage of the joint Review of the UK and French Authorities which is taking place at the end of January.” They expect to publish their findings in week commencing February 8.