Passengers stuck for hours in heatwave after two trains ‘break down’ near London station

Passengers were left stranded near London St Pancras station after two trains suffered a technical glitch during the UK’s record-breaking heatwave.

People travelling from St Pancras, including on Eurostar services, have been affected this afternoon after an incident this morning.

The events unfolded when an empty Eurostar train experienced technical issues near Stratford. The train did not have any passengers on board at the time.

Another train, a Southeastern service from Kent with around 250 commuters on board, also suffered technical issues and became stuck, according to the Standard.

It had tried to reverse out of the tunnel towards Kent when it broke down, causing a knock-on effect on train services in the area.

The incident happened as temperatures in the capital approached 30°C for the fifth day in a row during the school half-term break.

Holidaymakers at St Pancras’ Eurostar terminal faced knock-on delays, with long queues snaking up the concourse.

Delays were also reported on the French side, with the 7.37am service from Paris Gare du Nord listed as delayed ‘due to technical issues’ on the Eurostar website.

A Eurostar spokesperson said: ‘Earlier this morning, a Eurostar train carrying no passengers, along with another domestic train, experienced technical issues near Stratford.

‘Due to the knock-on impact on the timetable, Eurostar services departing from St Pancras International are experiencing some delays. Refreshments are being provided to customers at the station.

‘We take any incident involving our trains very seriously and will continue to provide further information as soon as possible.’

Scott Brightwell, the safety, planning and performance director at Southeastern Rail, commented on the issues this morning: ‘We’re sorry to customers affected by disruption to services into London St Pancras this morning. We would urge any customer whose journey was delayed by 15 minutes or more to claim delay repay on our website.

‘A Eurostar and a Southeastern train developed faults on the approach to the station, which reduced the number of lines available and meant fewer services were able to run. Services are returning to normal but with some delay.

‘Customers can use their tickets at no extra cost on the Elizabeth Line and Underground between Stratford and central London, and Thameslink between Rainham and St Pancras.’

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