Hundreds of passengers were evacuated after a train stuck in the Channel Tunnel between England and France after a technical fault. Getlink, the company that manages the rail link between Coquelles in northern France and Folkestone in southeast England, said around 400 people had to leave the train.
An alarm was sounded and the crowd was forced to abandon the train through an area usually used by site maintenance workers. One of the passengers, Sarah Fellows, 37, said the experience was “terrifying”.
“There was a woman crying in the subway and another woman who was traveling alone panicked,” Sarah Fellows told AFP.
Another passenger, Michael Kent, said passengers spent hours on the train while technicians tried to fix the problem. They were eventually transferred to an alternative train, but spent nearly five hours in the submerged tunnel.
Following this, trains from France were delayed by up to six hours. John Keefe, one of Ketling’s managers, said passengers were taken to Folkestone as the train pulled out of the tunnel.
“Operations like this take time but must be done carefully for everyone’s safety. All those involved in the incident have been evacuated and we are now back to normal services,” John Keefe said.
The English Channel opened in 1994 and consists of two one-way tunnels and a service tunnel 50 kilometers long. The underwater section is 38 kilometers long and is the longest in the world.
Since its opening, it has transported more than 80 million vehicles on nearly 800 meter long trains. Last month, the effects of a rail strike in England reduced the number of trains running across the English Channel, although its staff did not participate in the strike.
“Total creator. Devoted tv fanatic. Communicator. Evil pop culture buff. Social media advocate.”
