Eurostar and Southeastern: Disruption after train sent to fix faulty line also breaks down

Furious rail passengers are seeking refunds after Eurostar and Southeastern trains were cancelled due to a series of faults on the line in Kent.

Both companies use the HS1 track and were forced to cancel trains due to overhead line damage between St Pancras and Ebbsfleet in north Kent.

The disruption was exacerbated when an engineering train sent to fix the overhead line problem  broke down, but has now been reportedly cleared.

In a statement to City AM, Eurostar said: ‘As of yesterday, our trains were subject to delay due to a problem with the catenary on the UK high-speed line between Stratford International and Ebbsfleet International.”

“We succeeded in reaccommodating the vast majority of customers who were impacted by the delays. The issue has now been fixed and services are beginning to return to normal.”

Southeastern said the “problem this morning was related to a broken down engineering train which failed close to the tunnel which takes the HS1 route below London.  

“This meant that we were only able to run Highspeed trains as far as Ebbsfleet for a short period.”

The broken down trains has now been cleared from the line and all lines are open.”

“We’re currently working to reintroduce trains between Margate/Ramsgate and St Pancras via Ashford as soon as we can but while Journey Planners are all up-to-date, services may still be delayed or altered at short notice while we to normal.

“Naturally we’re encouraging all our passengers caught up in the delays to claim for Delay Repay (any delay over 15 minutes).”

Twitter users vented their frustration, sending messages to Eurostar asking for reimbursement and expressing anger their trips to Europe had been put on hold.