. EUROPE : TRANSPORTATION: RAILROAD: PASSENGER: Snow Brings Travel Chaos Across UK as Eurostar Trains Suspended Snow Brings Travel Chaos Across UK as Eurostar Trains Suspended Engineers examine Eurostar trains' failure and air and road travel disrupted during country-wide cold snap Martin Wainwright Guardian.co.uk Sunday 20 December 2009 13.32 GMT <http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/ 2009/dec/20/eurostar-suspended-cold-snap A shorter URL for the above _link_: <http://tinyurl.com/yflg8ky Specialist engineers are to examine Eurostar's usually trouble-free trains to crack the puzzle of why they failed so disastrously, after running unaffected in previous cold snaps. The firm has blamed the sudden contrast for the high speed engines between freezing temperatures above ground and the heat of the tunnel's 25C (77F). Slower freight trains on the Eurotunnel service were not affected, and the contrast will form part of the company's investigation. Experts are also expected to focus on the fact that the failures were in London-bound services, which spend longer overground in France before the tunnel than trains going south. It's all a bit of a mystery and the company, and indeed a lot of people, appear baffled by it, said Nigel Harris, managing editor of Rail magazine. But the fact that the problem has affected London-bound trains rather than ones leaving St Pancras may have been due to the fact that those heading away from London have less time to get cold. They pass through miles of tunnel through London and then go under the Thames and they just don't have time to get exposed to the very cold temperatures before going into the tunnel. But what is really puzzling about this is the fact that it is happening now, even though the trains have been exposed to cold weather over the last few years. The Eurostar trains are similar to the French TGV high-speed locos, which have not suffered from cold weather problems, although they do not face the abrupt temperature contrast of the tunnel run in conditions such as those this weekend. 50,000 travelers affected by Eurostar break downs By RAPHAEL G. SATTER Associated Press <http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ ALeqM5hP-DkxBjO-6hw4Azs-8JYnQWosLgD9CN2JI01 A shorter URL for the above _link_: <http://tinyurl.com/y8aw9h5 LONDON  The only rail _link_ between Britain and France was closed for testing Sunday, after a series of breakdowns trapped thousands in a tunnel for hours in claustrophobic conditions, train company Eurostar said. The breakdowns of four trains in the Channel Tunnel on Friday evening and ensuing cancellations through the weekend were expected to affect some 50,000 people during the busy holiday travel season. Passengers were stranded in the dark without food, water or air conditioning for more than 12 hours after the breakdowns, which were initially blamed on severe weather. The company is running special trains through the tunnels in a bid to pinpoint the problem, press officer Anelle Mouhaddib said Sunday. She declined to say whether any trains had successfully made it through the tunnel, but a series of trains dispatched from London and Paris on Saturday evening were either canceled or broke down. In addition to the 2,000 people trapped in the tunnel Friday night, a further 31,000 had had their trips canceled Saturday, and 26,000 more were expected to be affected Sunday, Mouhaddib said. Eurostar's executives have offered apologies, refunds, free travel and more. Rail passengers spend a cold, dark night stranded in Chunnel Four trains from Paris to London stalled in the tunnel under the English Channel when their electrical systems shut off. By Janet Stobart December 20, 2009 Los Angeles Times <http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/ la-fg-chunnel20-2009dec20,0,3232027.story A shorter URL for the above _link_: <http://tinyurl.com/ygkwpvl Reporting from Tichborne, England - Passengers who had spent the night trapped in freezing temperatures in the English Channel tunnel emerged Saturday describing a complete nightmare in pitch-dark unheated trains without food or water. Four trains on the Eurostar line joining London and Paris broke down after entering the tunnel on the French coast Friday night, and a journey that should have taken less than three hours turned into a cold 11- to 16-hour marathon for more than 2,000 people. The first trickle of shivering passengers appeared Saturday morning at London's St. Pancras station and central London bus stations hungry, thirsty and angry. Lee Godfrey, interviewed by a BBC reporter, described the ordeal as a complete nightmare suffered by passengers ranging from the elderly and ailing to children and pregnant women. We were without power. We ran out of water, we ran out of food, and there was very, very poor communication from staff, Godfrey said. Page last updated at 09:28 GMT, Sunday, 20 December 2009 Eurostar 'to learn lessons' from train chaos BBC News <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8423093.stm Video and _link_s to these stories READ MORE: Eurostar suspended amid cold snap SEE ALSO Family's 15 hour Eurostar nightmare(02.40) How Eurostar passengers were rescued(00.21) 'Information breakdown' on Eurostar trains(02.57) Eurostar suspends services, probes 6 train failures Sun Dec 20, 2009 3:03pm GMT By Michael Holden Reuters <http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKLDE5BJ04R20091220 Passengers were stuck on the trains for up to 16 hours overnight on Friday because of technical faults caused by snow and sub-zero temperatures, Eurostar said. Eurostar said the trains failed after moving from cold air outside into the warmer tunnel, causing condensation which affected electrical systems. Tunnel operator Eurotunnel said its shuttle service, which carries vehicles, and freight trains were still running. I can't guarantee our service will be working because we have suspended the service today until we get to the bottom of what happened on Friday night, said Richard Brown, chief executive of Eurostar, operated by French rail operator SNCF, its Belgian counterpart SNCB and British government-owned LCR. We will not start services again until we're sure we can get (the trains) through safely, he told BBC TV. Many of the passengers trapped on Friday night in trains in the 51-km (32-mile) tunnel, the longest undersea subway in the world, spoke of their fury after they were left with no power, air conditioning, food or water. Some complained Eurostar gave out little or no communication during their ordeal.