Eurotunnel Boasts First Profit

(NEWSER) - Some 740 passengers had to be evacuated from a packed Eurostar train from Paris last night after the electricity failed. Passengers were plunged into darkness as they awaited rescuers with ladders shortly after the train left the chunnel and headed toward London. More»

Eurostar cites 'severe problems,' sends rescue

(NEWSER) - Four passenger trains—and some 2,000 passengers—are stuck in the tunnel underneath the English Channel, due to “severe problems” caused by the combination of unseasonable cold outside and the warm air inside. At least three were bound from Paris to London, AFP reports, and, says a Eurostar official, “we are trying to get them out with a rescue locomotive.” Meanwhile, the Guardian adds, delays are piling up on both sides of the Channel, as the tunnel has been closed since Friday afternoon. More»

New Eurostar line cuts London-Paris transit time by 20 minutes

(NEWSER) - Top travel time between London and Paris should be at least 20 minutes faster thanks to track improvements that allowed a Eurostar train to set a record this morning. The test journey from Paris to St. Pancras Station, London, a 306-mile trip, took 2:03:39, the BBC reports. Regular service, priced to compete with flying, begins in November. More»

Frustrated travelers camp out in airports, train stations

(NEWSER) - Hundreds of thousands of passengers on their way to family holiday festivities in Europe were camped out instead yesterday at mobbed airports and train stations shut down by record snow and cold. London's Heathrow Airport was largely closed for a second day as wanna-be fliers huddled under emergency blankets on trash-strewn floors, some of them for a third night waiting for their plane to take off. "It's very hard," a passenger with a ticket to Dallas told CNN . "All I want for Christmas is to hug my daughter." Charles De Gaulle and German airports canceled more than a quarter of their flights, and several Eurostar trips were delayed or ditched. More»

Passengers stuck for 2 hours in Chunnel, advised to stay home

(NEWSER) - Another Eurostar train got stuck in the Channel Tunnel again yesterday amid Britain's worst spell of winter weather in a generation. The train was towed out after 2 hours and Eurostar announced that services will be severely limited throughout the weekend. Passengers were urged to avoid non-essential travel, the AP reports. More»