Special Report
by Business Editor Trevor Sturgess

Eurostar has been condemned for a catalogue of failure that turned the days before Christmas into a nightmare for thousands.

In a damning report, the high-speed international train operator through Kent was found 'wanting' in almost every respect in the way it handled the chaos after extreme weather conditions caused five trains to halt inside the Channel Tunnel. Two thousand passengers were trapped in failed trains, and a further 100,000 faced disruption over several days of chaos triggered by extreme cold and deep snow.

Former Kent resident Christopher Garnett and his French colleague Claude Gressier, joint chairmen of the Eurostar Independent Review, told a story of inadequate train maintenance, planning, staff training and communication.

Mr Garnett, who lived in Biddenden when he was commercial director of Eurotunnel, singled out the appalling conditions on the 7.37pm train from Disneyland Paris on December 18 to highlight the weaknesses in Eurostar’s performance.

It had left Marne-la-Vallee, the attraction’s nearest station, with 664 people on board, many of them mums, dads, grandparents and young children holding balloons and carrying Disney cuddly toys. They were looking forward to going home for Christmas.

But hit by extreme weather conditions train 9057 came to standstill inside the tunnel. Air conditioning, ventilation and lighting all failed. The temperature soared. Parents removed their children’s clothes down to their underwear and nappies. Some children screamed, The situation, coupled with the knowledge that the sea was not far above, led to stress and panic attacks.

With an all-French crew on board, many English-speaking passengers could not understand the 'strong' French accents on the tannoy. Passengers claimed the crew "“were generally unhelpful and appeared intimidated". They ignored passengers, refused to answer questions and appeared to go into hiding. It was down to an off-duty Essex policeman to take control of the situation.

Passengers were eventually evacuated onto a Eurotunnel shuttle train, but conditions were not much better. The train was "cold and dirty" and with few toilets, "facilities quickly became unpleasant."

Toilets were not emptied and overflowed. The report says: "This led to passengers designating one carriage as an open toilet area," Mr Garnett said: "Conditions on this shuttle frankly were appalling."

After passengers were evacuated safely to another Eurostar, they eventually arrived at St Pancras at 11.53am, some 16 hours after they had boarded the train with so much hope and expectation of a quick journey home.

The nightmare on train 9057 influenced many of the report’s recommendations.

As well as a raft of technical recommendations to ensure the trains can operate in extreme conditions, the review recommends better communications in the tunnel and above ground. Rescue arrangements must be speeded up and rescue locomotives should be properly equipped for rescue - fully manned and stocked with supplies of food and water.

"We are critical of Eurostar’s lack of a comprehensive plan for dealing with major disruption," Mr Garnett said. "Where was the passenger information about delays? The website should be kept up-to-date with good, accurate and reliable information."

Mr Garnett stopped short of calling for Eurostar heads to roll, saying it was better that the management who knew the business sorted things out. Eurostar was a difficult company to run - it has several owners - and planned re-organisation into a single body would help.

But he had this warning for Richard Brown, Eurostar’s chief executive, and his team, as well as Eurotunnel management: "Passengers must not go through this experience again. You Eurostar, you Eurotunnel, get it right so it never happens again."

Eurostar responded by announcing a £30m investment to improve the resilience of trains, passenger care and communication, move to a new structure called Eurostar International, and the appointment of a director to implement the review’s recommendations "as quickly as possible".

REACTION

• South East MEP Catherine Bearder (Lib Dem) said: "We now need real action from Eurostar to ensure that the Christmas chaos is not repeated. We need a promise of fair treatment for all Christmas passengers and safe travel for all future passengers."
• South East MEP Richard Ashworth (Con) said it was a "shocking indictment" on the company’s performance. "With ever-more stringent airport security measures, the figures show that people are increasingly choosing to travel to Europe by rail. Rail travel is the mode of the future, yet this report shows that Eurostar is not living up to the demands of its customers.The Christmas debacle has shown more than ever that Eurostar needs competition. If a company is allowed to become complacent, ultimately only consumers will suffer."
• South East MEP Sharon Bowles (Lib Dem) said recent heavy snowfall in Kent had caused yet more disruption. "How embarrassing for Eurostar that as the Review panel outlines past problems and possible solutions, trains are still running late."
• Richard Brown, Eurostar chief executive, said: "Our duty now is to ensure that we quickly regain the trust of our customers. My immediate priority is to implement the plan to deliver on the Review recommendations and drive the new corporate structure through to completion. Together with the other measures announced today this will secure the operational robustness and quality of service that our customers rightly expect."