Eurostar says service may resume Tuesday

AFP - Eurostar said its passenger rail service between Paris and London may partially resume on Tuesday morning if test runs on trains "go well" but that normal service would not resume before Christmas.

Nicolas Petrovic, Eurostar chief operating officer, made the announcement at a press conference called after traveller outrage at the three-day stoppage blamed on cold weather.

Tens of thousands of travellers have been left stranded by the cancellation of services on one of the busiest weeks of the year for travellers in the run-up to the Christmas break. 

Meanwhile, France said Monday it would launch an investigation into why several Eurostar trains broke down in the Channel Tunnel last week, sparking chaos on the rails during the busy holiday travel season.

"This is something that is not normal," French Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau said in Beijing, where he was accompanying Prime Minister Francois Fillon on an official visit to China.

"The transport ministry will launch an inquiry to make sure that we know what happened, how it happened and how to avoid such events in the future."
   

Eurostar train services between Britain and Europe were suspended for a third straight day on Monday due to the icy winter weather, leaving thousands of holiday travellers in the cold.

Freezing temperatures and snowy conditions in northern France are being blamed for the breakdown of five high-speed trains in the undersea tunnel on Friday.

"There have already been incidents in the Eurotunnel... but to have traffic blocked for several days in a row, that is not acceptable," Bussereau said.