Eurostar — questions and travel updates

[miss disney fan]

does the band play every day or just weekends and school holidays, i will be leaving london on a sunday morning on the disney direct train, never seem anything before but this was four years ago

[steppelemming]

The disney band were playing when we left Waterloo on Sunday morning, it got everyone in the disney mood and I thought it was a lovely touch  

[miss disney fan]

great, lets hope they keep it up all though the year then  

[miss disney fan]

just had our confirmation from disney and its got the new times for the direct disney train to and from St Pancras

out of london - 8.52

out of marne la valle - 19.37

hope these are correct and if so then it looks like we could get to disney nearly an hour early than the old times from waterloo  :lol:

[Anthony]

8.52? Bloody hell, do they not think anyone lives outside of central London? Even coming from nearby you'd have to get up at a stupid time...

They really ought to add a second train now, it's still getting more and more popular, right?  If it left about 11 or 12, I think that would be so much more convenient for people from north of Watford.

It's a nightmare getting to DLRP from Manchester - there are no cheap flights to CDG, so you either get a 9am train to London and then get a Eurostar at 12 then change to a TGV at Lille to arrive by 5pm, or you have to drive to Liverpool or East Midlands for a cheap flight.

Surely if Eurostar gave us a direct train at a reasonable time they'd also get more customers?

[miss disney fan]

for me i hope the times are right for what we have been given as i stay in london the night before we leave, but i can see what you mean baloo, i wouldnt like to leave the staffs area on the day we travel out to disney and your coming from above us in manchester, but looking at the returning train, it looks like we get abit of extra time in the parks  

[Patrick]

just had our confirmation from disney and its got the new times for the direct disney train to and from St Pancras

out of london - 8.52

out of marne la valle - 19.37

hope these are correct and if so then it looks like we could get to disney nearly an hour early than the old times from waterloo  :lol:

Actually I see what they're doing here, they're going by GNER trains into Kings Cross times, because that's a rather perfect time for the early morning train from Newcastle at like 4:15am or something :lol: .  I do like the return times, so basically for strange people like me, who set off at 5am to dlrp this is a rather perfect train, where I am not waiting around London and having to use so many god damned tubes, but for everyone else yes it sucks :lol: .

[TowMater]

Does anyone have pictures of this train?

[Anthony]

Literally just now...

Fire shuts Channel Tunnel traffic

A fire in the Channel Tunnel, which links England and France, has forced the suspension of train services, officials say.

No-one was injured in the blaze that began at 1400 GMT in a freight train about 11km (7 miles) from the French entrance, the operator Eurotunnel said.

The French train company SNCF said services would not resume until Friday.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7610919.stm

Bad news for anyone travelling back from DLRP today (or maybe not... a free night?), but it sounds like tomorrow morning's direct train might be ok.

[Riebi]

oh! Hope nobody has to change the holiday planning now!

It´s a big luck that nobody gets injured!

[Anthony]

The head of Eurostar was just on both BBC News and Sky News channels outside St Pancras, and it's looking unlikely that any trains will be running tomorrow. The French AFP news service is also apparently saying the fire is contained (the tunnel has its own fire service) but still burning.

Eurostar also seem to be a bit patchy on whether you'd get a refund.

I guess there's a trainload of people waiting in Marne-la-Vallée station right now for tonight's train back to London wondering what they're going to do. Would DLRP give them free hotel accommodation? From the news it doesn't sound like Eurostar are doing.

More here.

[Clarebelle]

1. eurostar would HAVE to give refunds or tickets for another train as they have failed to provide the service.

2. It would be down to your travel company/insurance to provide you with alternative methods of returning home ie flights (this is why you should always be extra careful when traveling by Eurostar as not many travel insurance companies cover for that kind of travel

3. No accomodation is normally offered by the travel companies so all those poor people will have to dig deep into their own pockets to pay (if I remember rightly you may be able to claim some money back/compensation but I'm not 100% sure on that, I never got anything back)

[Pete's Dragon]

I feel so sorry for all the people stranded on both sides of the tunnel. And to think, we toyed with the idea of flying to London and getting the Eurostar cause my son Loves trains so much. Glad we didnt bother. :?

[SophieD]

its so lucky that no one was hurt or injured badly


Does anyone know what caused the fire yet?

[Anthony]

Does anyone know what caused the fire yet?

On Sky they said it was something to do with the breaks on a lorry that was carrying some kind of highly flammable chemical.

Eurostar and Eurotunnel are still two of the most reliable services you'll ever find, probably more so than air travel. Especially when you consider things like the West Coast Main Line's neverending closures. And of the now 3 incidents in the tunnel, they've all been these freight lorry trains, no Eurostar.

But funnily enough, there's something else in the news about Air France looking at rivalling Eurostar with a new train service when they (finally!) lose the monopoly on the tunnel in 2010. That could be good for DLRP, since they already have an agreement on providing flights...

Hopefully it'll be a quick return to service now anyway.