(Updated with resumption of traffic on Sunday)
The circulation of Eurostar trains between London, Paris and Brussels will resume on Sunday, the railway operator announced on Saturday evening, after the total interruption of the service on Saturday due to flooding in a tunnel under the Thames, near London.
If traffic can resume on Sunday morning and if no trains should be canceled, Eurostar warns in a press release that the trains will run at reduced speed in the morning, which risks causing delays.
The operator also says it expects very high attendance at the stations concerned, with several tens of thousands of travelers having had to postpone their departure on Saturday. Travelers can book a new ticket free of charge or get a refund, Eurostar said.
The origin of the flooding which affected the tunnel located between St Pancras station and the town of Ebbsfleet, east of London, has not yet been established.
This is the second time that Eurostar traffic has been seriously disrupted during this holiday season, following a surprise strike by French employees of Getlink, the company managing the Channel Tunnel, on December 21.
(Tassilo Hummel, Nicolas Delame and Tangi Salaün)