LONDON -- It was a very long night for hundreds of Eurostar passengers after a power cut left them stranded for more than eight hours.
Two trains were halted late Thursday due to the technical difficulties, including a train from Brussels to London carrying 600 passengers and another from London to Paris with 700 on board.
Staff were online tweeting updates after the power cut out. A spokesman for Eurostar told Mashable that the power outage was caused by a failure on the power lines in France, but as it doesn’t manage them, it doesn’t yet know the cause of the outage. He said the longest delay was nine hours.
We are very sorry, due to an issue with a power cable between Lille and Calais trains #es9046 and #es9152 are stopped and unable to progress— Eurostar (@Eurostar) November 20, 2014
Aside from the two halted trains stuck between Lille and Calais, other services were being diverted via the "classic line," meaning they too were experiencing delays.
We're actually stuck on quite a steep bend. It's a bit like being half way round a roller coaster but unable to get off.— Paul Raeburn (@PaulRaeburn) November 20, 2014
A short while later, the power was restored.
Let there be light! Power restored on the 18:04 #Eurostar to Brussels. Will we be moving soon?— Frederik Van Hecke (@frvhecke) November 20, 2014
But any rejoicing was short-lived.
Starting of rear engine on #eurostar 9152 seems to have failed as well. Guess we won't be moving any time soon..— Frederik Van Hecke (@frvhecke) November 20, 2014
Things weren't much better over on the second train.
Stuck #eurostar 9046: still no power, people sleeping or trying to, total silence...With a bit of an apocalypse atmosphere. Creepy.— Fabien Darrigues (@FDarrigues) November 20, 2014
Passengers may have been tired, but some hadn't lost their sense of humour.
#eurostar #9059 I have a spare cable Eurostar, maybe I could help! pic.twitter.com/lkbleQ4nlB— Mof (@00Mof) November 21, 2014
During the 8hrs we've been stuck, girl next to me has listened to the entire back catalog of Coldplay. Twice. She needs rescuing @Eurostar— Paul Raeburn (@PaulRaeburn) November 21, 2014
One of the two trains made it to Lille shortly before 2 a.m. local time.
Service update: The #es9046 has arrived in Lille and passenger's will be moving to a new set to continue on to Paris.— Eurostar (@Eurostar) November 21, 2014
But passengers on the second train remained stranded.
Babyfood and haribo, just what we need after 9 hours without food. Coffee? Nope. #eurostar pic.twitter.com/QLwYtod4JR— George Wright (@georgie) November 21, 2014
Meanwhile, in London, passengers from other trains hit by knock-on delays were arriving into St Pancras railway station.
3 am & just back to St Pancras on #Eurostar, only 5 & a half hours late, but they're paying for cabs home! pic.twitter.com/0GUUEzj7EB— TJ (@electric_heat) November 21, 2014
Longest journey on #Eurostar almost 9 hours to get to London. Ridiculous. I could've be on Antigua by now!— Olya Dyachuk (@O_Dyachuk) November 21, 2014
At 4:30 a.m., the second of the two halted trains started moving again.
We're moving; after 8 hours... This is 2014 #eurostar #es9152— Sebastiaan De Roeck (@sebderoeck) November 21, 2014
After leaving London shortly after 6 p.m., the train arrived in Lille at 5:30 a.m...
Service update: Train #es9152 now arrived and transferred onto a new train which will carry on to Brussels.— Eurostar (@Eurostar) November 21, 2014
...To the relief of all aboard.
Looks like we made it to Lille! after a felt million years! #es9152 #eurostar #5am #LILLEHOSTAGES— nikki (@nikkihochweiler) November 21, 2014
I could have flown return to #NYC during the time I spent on the #eurostar from #london to #brussels #es9152 #lillehostages #stuck— nikki (@nikkihochweiler) November 21, 2014