LONDON, Dec.20, (PRINTWORDS NEWS) The dawn of Sunday spelt another day without the services of the Eurostar for people in England and France. According to the reports of the eurostar authorities, it is mostly owing to the extreme weather conditions that is still prevalent in the region that has given rise to this predicament for all. As of now, the extent of time that this unpleasant curfew is going last has not been determined by the officials.
The closure of the services at the Kent and France terminus also did not go without creating a furore. Many more were left in the lurch as they remained waiting to board their scheduled trains. The Calais port also witnessed a complete shutdown. As the snow came down heavily on the terrain between the English Channel, the Eurostar authorities sported a genuine lack of confidence in their abilities to be able to handle the delicate situation ably, thereby putting a halt to the entire service between England and France for the time being. They stated that Eurostar was not yet “prepared” to brave the rough weather.
Not only that, the horror story of the 2,000 passengers who were left stranded on either side of the English Channel due to the breaking down of the four Eurostar trains in the channel Tunnel have opened up a new chapter in the history of the British [bad] customer services. The gradual emergence of the witness account of the sordid mess is going someway to portray quite a gloomy picture about the Eurostar officials handling the situation not to the liking of the public. It has been stated that not much was done to relieve the 2,000 passengers who went through a harrowing and “hellish” experience in the 16 hours that they had to stay couped up in the crammed train cars in the tunnel.
It appears though that the same treatment was not meted out to all. Former German supermodel Claudia Schiffer was one of those who was travellig [first class] in the ill fated trains of the Eurostar. She was however, counted among the lucky ones. Begrudged accounts from fellow travellers stated that a car had come right up to train, at the mouth of the tunnel and escorted her away. The same couldn’t be said about the thousands others, who had to carry on with their agony during the extended wait.
The rescue operations began quite late in the day and it was by midnight [local time] that the rescue trains were seen arriving at the St. Pancras station in London, filled to capacity with the harassed passengers. By the time it all came in to effect, emotions were dry and panic was widely on the rise. After they were rescued, the 2,000 odd passengers narrated their tale of woe of being stuck in the pitch black of the Channel Tunnel without food and drinks for so many hours.
The cancellation of the train services of the Eurostar has left thousands more stranded, while they waited at the railway terminus to board their respective trains, adding fuel to the already raging fire of chaos. The tension in this matter has reached such titillating heights that there has also come a call for the resignation of the firm’s chief executive Richard Brown.
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