European Railroad Discussion > Eurotunnel train problem

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-62655148

What a non-story. Train breaks down, people transferred to another train via a recognised safe passageway. Nobody killed or injured.

The Emergency tunnels did their job, end of story.

"A non-story?"
Perhaps for the media and public but this is a big story for anyone involved in designing, maintaining, and operating tunnels.
Good and problematic lessons will be learned and taught from this event.
And a far better outcome than if the problem had been in the Hudson or East River tunnels, or any of the long mountain tunnels on legacy routes.

"....Another passenger, who did not want to be named, said: "Several people were freaking out about being down in the service tunnel, it's a bit of a weird place... We were stuck down there for at least five hours."

The story I am reading says there was no breakdown, only that warning indications were displayed in the cab.  I think it's unfair to characterize this as a non-event to the passengers involved.  Yes, everything proceeded exactly as planned, but exiting a train and being stuck for hours in a tunnel several hundred feet beneath the surface of the English Channel could be an upsetting experience.

Gordon

Lurch_in_ABQ Wrote:
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> "....Another passenger, who did not want to be
> named, said: "Several people were freaking out
> about being down in the service tunnel, it's a bit
> of a weird place... We were stuck down there for
> at least five hours."

They were not stuck in the service tunnel itself for five hours. The original car shuttle train was stopped for at least an hour and a half, then passengers walked through the service tunnel for about 10 minutes to reach an empty shuttle train (not a freight train as the BBC report claims), which then had problems getting underway. Not fun, but not the same as spending five hours on foot in a bare tunnel.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/aug/24/eurotunnel-passengers-stranded-underground-for-five-hours
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/24/22 23:51 by railsmith.

gbmott Wrote:
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> I think it's unfair to
> characterize this as a non-event to the passengers
> involved.
>
> Gordon

I didn't, I said it was a non story from a 'news' point of view. Every burglary and minor car bump is important to those involved, but not really for the rest of society.

Remember, this happened in a first world country where 5 hours delays are rare.  They're not used to likes of Amtrak where this would be another day at the office.

DevalDragon Wrote:
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> Remember, this happened in a first world country
> where 5 hours delays are rare.  They're not used
> to likes of Amtrak where this would be another day
> at the office.

Ahh yes, never miss a chance to take another cheap shot at Amtrak.