Eurostar delays: Passengers warned not to travel as French strikes spark mass disruption
After a weekend of disruption for Eurostar travellers between London and Paris, passengers booked on trains today and tomorrow from the French capital have been told to travel only “if absolutely necessary”.
Five trains between St Pancras International and Paris Nord have already been cancelled because of industrial action by French frontier officials.
Long queues, delays and cancellations will be the order of the day.
Eurostar had been planning to run all 13 departures from London to Paris, but overnight the 7.41am was cancelled and passengers placed on other trains to the French capital. The inbound service has also been cancelled.
As passengers enter the Eurostar area at St Pancras, they are warned: “We recommend not to travel unless absolutely necessary.”
The cross-Channel train operator says: “We are experiencing severe delays and very long queues for all Eurostar services from Paris to London.
“You can change your ticket free of charge to a future date, or claim a full refund.
“If you do still need to travel please proceed to the ticket gates at the time indicated on your ticket. We will then do everything we can to accommodate you onto the next available service.”
Frontier officials, numbering around 17,000, have been seeking higher pay and improved working conditions for some time. Last Wednesday their unions rejected a government pay offer as insufficient. And now the dispute has a Brexit twist.
With the date for the UK to leave the EU only 11 days away – unless a deal is reached or a postponement happens – the French officials say they will need many more staff to process British travellers, who would become “third-country citizens” and subject to much greater scrutiny and tough new rules on passport validity.
The staff have been on duty, but appear to have been replicating the work they would need to do in the event of a no-deal Brexit – scrutinising issue and expiry dates, and asking questions of travellers. Normally all they do is check that the passenger has a valid passport or national ID.
French officials also check passports at St Pancras, but delays caused by the dispute have been minor.
Services to and from Amsterdam and Brussels appear to be unaffected, but with long delays affecting Paris-London services it is possible some of the trains will be out of position and therefore there could be knock-on delays.
Eurostar is offering full refunds or free postponements.
Anyone who decides to travel but is delayed by an hour or more is eligible for compensation.
The work-to-rule is due to end on Tuesday evening – but in the event of a no-deal Brexit, it is possible there could be similar scenes.
