Eurostar chaos: What are your rights if trains are cancelled or delayed?

Exclusive: Rail firm has offered £150 for a London hotel – but says contact centre will be pragmatic on claims

An estimated 25,000 Eurostar passengers had their travel plans torn up due to the closure of the Channel Tunnel for many hours on 30 December.

Thirty trains connecting London St Pancras International with Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam have been cancelled.

Services have now resumed, but passengers have been told that unless they have a confirmed for one of the trains that are running, they should leave the station.

Even though easyJet put on extra capacity between London and Paris, air fares have soared due to the mass cancellations. The cheapest British Airways flight on New Year’s Eve is £625.

Thousand of people are out of position. Unfortunately for those travellers, care and compensation rules for international rail travellers are far less comprehensive and generous than for airline passengers.

These are the key questions and answers about rail passengers’ rights.

What is Eurostar saying?

“Following the suspension services of services due to overhead power supply issues in the Channel Tunnel and a failed LeShuttle train, Eurostar services to and from London will resume this evening at around 6pm following the partial reopening of the Channel Tunnel.

“As the overhead power supply issues in the Channel Tunnel still remain, only one line is available to run trains on. This means there will continue to be delays and longer journey times than usual this evening.

“Therefore we continue to advise our customers to rebook their journey for another day if possible, with free exchanges available.

“We also advise customers not to come to our stations if their trains have been already been cancelled.

“Although outside of our control, we apologise for the disruption today and will continue to keep customers updated with the latest information and support them with rescheduling their bookings.”

What are my options as a passengers?

You can rebook, but only “in the same travel class, subject to availability”. Most unfortunately, there do not appear to be any seats on any trains for the rest of the year.

If you decide to cancel, Eurostar is offering an “e-voucher for the unused ticket, valid for 12 months”, but it would be daft to take this rather than a full cash refund.

If I spent a fortune on a flight, will Eurostar pay the extra cost?

No. In aviation, when an airline cancels a flight it must cover the cost of getting you to your destination as soon as possible (including, if nothing else is available, in Eurostar Premier class).

But that is not the case for international rail passengers. Even though air fares surged way beyond normal levels, all you can claim back from Eurostar is the original price of your ticket.

Travel insurance is the best route for a claim for extra costs.

What care costs am I entitled to from Eurostar?

The rail firm says: “Eurostar will cover reasonable expenses, including hotel accommodation up to £150/€170 per room, per night.” The nearest Premier Inn is currently charging £192. Eurostar says the contact centre “will be pragmatic when compensating”. Taxi costs up to £50/€60 per journey are also covered, as well as food and drink expenses up to £35 / €40 per person, per day.

What about cash compensation?

There is no possibility of an airline-style payout of hundreds of pounds. The best you can hope for is compensation if you travel with Eurostar on a heavily delayed service. The company offers a choice between a partial refund of the cost of your ticket, or a voucher for future travel within a year – typically worth 20 to 50 per cent more than the cash refund.

Delays of under an hour do not qualify for compensation. These are the refund rates according to the length of delay:

• 60-119 minutes: 25 per cent of journey cost in cash, or 30 per cent as a voucher
• 120 minutes and above: 50 per cent of journey cost in cash, or 60 per cent as a voucher (increasing to 75 per cent for a delay of three hours or more)

Can I claim back for a prepaid hotel abroad that I can’t reach?

No. You are unable to claim for costs triggered by the train cancellation, such as a hotel in Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam that you cannot reach. Travel insurance may cover such a loss.

Read more: Eurostar delays live: Services partially resume but passengers still ‘strongly advised’ not to travel