Electrical fault shuts Channel tunnel: operator

Train services between France and Britain were suspended for several hours on Sunday due to a major electrical problem in the tunnel linking the two countries, the train and tunnel operators said.

Published: 24 June 2018 17:05 CEST

Electrical fault shuts Channel tunnel: operator

File photo of passengers waiting for a Eurostar train in Paris on October 18, 2016. Photo: Thomas SAMSON / AFP

Traffic was blocked for around three hours before lunchtime due to a power outage on the French side, a spokesman for Eurotunnel told AFP.

“The problem has been identified and current has been restored but now we need to check everything, as we do after every outage,” the spokesman added.

No trains were stuck in the tunnel, which runs for 50 kilometres under the English Channel, and freight and passenger trains were able to resume at around 1:30 pm (1130 GMT), the company added.

A major electrical fault in October 2016 also led services through the tunnel to be suspended for five hours.