Train passengers left frustrated by Eurostar suspension
All 32 trains scheduled to operate between London and Paris on Friday were cancelled.
Thousands of passengers had their travel plans thrown into chaos by Eurostar’s suspension of its services between London and Paris.
The disruption was caused by the discovery of an unexploded Second World War bomb near tracks in the French capital.
The cancellation of all 32 trains scheduled to operate between the cities on Friday left many people struggling to find alternative routes to their destination.
Charlotte Kidd, from Bath, was hoping to get to Disneyland Paris to celebrate her 30th birthday.
She said if her train was cancelled she would “try and get there some other way”.
Ola Zyborowicz, 28, and Chris Gomes, 29, travelled from Ashford, Kent, to take the Eurostar to Paris for a long weekend away and to visit some friends.
Ms Zyborowicz said: “They said that the trains for today had been cancelled, which hadn’t been announced online yet.
“We were a bit like, why hadn’t you shared that information with everyone yet? It was an ‘if you know, you know’ basis.”
They said they have booked a new Eurostar ticket for Saturday.
“The app was horrendous trying to change the booking that we already have so we just booked it as brand new,” Ms Zyborowicz said.
“We’ll have to request a refund, which is a bit annoying. But we thought, rather than trying to waste any more holiday time, it’s better to just get on with it and hope for the best.”
Emma Roe, part of a group of eight friends, said they were looking up flights from Luton airport to Amsterdam but nothing was available until 6pm.
She said: “We’re all parents, so we don’t want to lose our free weekend.”
Ella Brown and Charlie Spath had planned to spend the whole weekend in Paris but were facing a shorter trip.
Ella, 21, travelled from Orange County in California to visit her friend Charlie, also 21, on his year abroad at London’s City University.
They were trying to rebook for a departure on Saturday night.
“It will all work out, but it’s a bummer,” Ms Brown said.
“I haven’t been to Europe before.”
They looked at flights “but it’s almost more of a pain”, she said.
Lee Bailey, 48, who lives in Paris, had planned to travel to London to spend the weekend with his partner.
The train on Friday morning he was initially booked on from the Gare du Nord was cancelled, so he rebooked onto an afternoon departure, which was also cancelled.
The communications professional said: “There were several hundred people waiting to go through the ticket scanners and passport control who were being held back and people were calm, but it was obviously frustrating.
“They cancelled the first three trains in the morning and said we could rebook so I did rebook for a train later this afternoon but I just found out via a text message that one’s been cancelled as well.
“I completely understand the need to address the risk, but the process for rebooking has become complicated, and at two points the Eurostar site has asked me to pay to rebook on later trains.”
