Eurotunnel delays: Service running on time after eight-hour tailbacks on Sunday

Compensation is available for those who were delayed by more than one hour

A broken rail inside the tunnel caused severe delays (Reuters)

After severe delays of up to eight hours on Sunday night at the UK terminal, the Eurotunnel is now back to its normal service.

Passengers were urged to postpone their journeys last night departing from the UK terminal in Folkstone, after a fault on the track led to unexpected maintenance work.

Eurotunnel reported there was a broken rail inside the Channel Tunnel, meaning trains travelling in both directions had to share just one track, as the other was being repaired.

Eurostar services between London and the continent were also delayed.

On Monday morning, Eurostar tweeted that all trains have now arrived safely, but still warned passengers to check the website for updates.

Eurotunnel Le Shuttle also reported on Twitter that their service is operating on time, in both directions.

A heavy queue had built up on the UK side of the tunnel as well as on the M20 at junctioin 11a and extra trains were running to help reduce the waiting time, the BBC reported.

In a statement, Eurotunnel said: “There is a waiting time of approximately 60 minutes before check-in and five hours on the terminal.”

The track was fixed late on Sunday evening and Eurostar said compensation is available for those who were delayed by more than one hour.

Some 11,000 cars had been expected to use the tunnel on Sunday, but Monday should see "lower traffic," Eurotunnel said.