Warning to tourists as power outage cancels Eurostar journeys

The disruptions are expected to last nearly all day

Eurostar passengers travelling to and from Paris are facing severe disruption and cancellations on Monday, after a critical section of the French rail network was temporarily shut down.

France's railway company, SNCF, attributed the chaos to a power outage near Moussy, approximately 50km north of Paris.

The incident, which began around 8am, necessitated "major repairs".

It is expected to cause delays until late evening.

A Eurostar spokesperson said that passengers could "exchange their tickets free of charge or request a full refund."

Travellers are being advised to postpone their journeys if possible.

Eurostar trains at London’s St Pancras station (Getty Images)

Eurostar’s online timetable showed six trains from London to Paris were delayed on Monday, some by up to two hours, and five others were cancelled.

Meanwhile, five journeys from Paris to London were delayed and four were cancelled.

Routes connecting London to Amsterdam, London to Brussels, and Brussels to Amsterdam remain unaffected by the French network issues.

The widespread disruption impacts one of Europe's busiest international rail corridors, occurring at the peak of the summer travel season.

In July, Eurostar passengers faced an 11-hour journey to get back to London, after they were left stranded on a train when it broke down in France.

Thousands of Eurostar passengers are suffering disruption to journeys because of a power outage in France (PA Archive)

Customers travelling from Brussels to London took to social media to describe the chaos onboard, with some saying they had no working toilets or proper ventilation.

Eurostar said the train broke down due to a power failure, and told passengers on social media they were sending a replacement train to complete the final leg of their journey.

In June, Eurostar customers were warned of disruptions after 600m of cable was stolen on the high-speed line near Lille, France, cancelling the journeys of more than 5,000 travellers.

That came after two people were hit by trains on the network the night before.

“We’re very sorry for the continued disruption and the impact this is having on our customers. Our teams are working closely with the French authorities and infrastructure teams to manage the situation and restore services safely,” a Eurostar spokesperson said at the time.