Services resume in Channel Tunnel

The Channel Tunnel has reopened for Eurostar services between the UK and France after a fire at the French end forced its closure.

Queues of passengers as trains halted by smoke in Channel Tunnel

epa04564901 Eurostar trains at St.Pancras International in London, Britain, 17 January 2015.

Train service through the Channel Tunnel between France and Britain has resumed, a day after a truck fire forced the crucial link's closure and suspension of all trains.

"Our passenger service is currently operating to schedule with up to one departure per hour," operator Eurotunnel said early Sunday on its website.

Eurostar, which offers passenger rail services between London, Brussels and Paris, said schedules would return to normal on Sunday.

The fire on Saturday forced all Eurostar trains already en route to turn back to their stations of origin, while 42 people were evacuated from the truck shuttle using the service tunnel.

Police in southern England have said the fire was "at the French end of the tunnel and is being dealt with by the French authorities."

"There are no reported injuries," police added.

The fire sparked travel chaos in Britain and France with long queues for refunds reported at London's St Pancras station.

In November 2012, a fire on a freight train halted traffic in the tunnel for two hours.

Four years earlier, a truck fire caused major damage in the tunnel, affecting 650 metres of the structure and gumming up traffic for 30 hours.

Some 400 trains and 1.5 million trucks pass through the tunnel every day.


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Source: AAP



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