Relieved passengers stepped off the first Eurostar trains in nearly four days on Tuesday, but thousands more waiting to travel were angry at the prospect of having their Christmas holidays ruined. The first of the distinctive yellow, silver and blue trains to edge into Saint Pancras International station in London was greeted by a horde of camera crews and photographers.
Eurostar services were brought to a halt on Saturday after freezing weather in northern France caused five trains to break down in the Channel Tunnel, stranding 2,000 passengers for the night, under the sea. People arriving Tuesday at the refurbished Victorian-era station breathed a sigh of relief at finally completing their journey, after spending days stuck in Paris or Brussels.
But while the first trains arrived, people waiting to travel from Saint Pancras were told that only ticket-holders from last Saturday and Sunday would be allowed to travel from London on Tuesday. That left hundreds of people with tickets to travel on Tuesday angry that they had not been informed.