France plans Eurostar inquiry
.Eurostar is suspending train services for a third day to look into a weekend break-down of trains that trapped about 2,500 passengers in the Anglo-French Channel Tunnel, while France will order a public investigation.
Eurostar, owned by the French and Belgian state railway firms and the UK, blamed bad weather for the problem that disrupted Christmas travel for thousands more passengers. .
Eurostar announced in a statement that it was launching “an independent review into the problems it has experienced over recent days”.
“We can’t believe that Eurostar trains can’t run for three days because of snow, so there must be a technical problem,” French Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau said during a visit to China with Prime Minister Francois Fillon.
Christopher Garnett, who has served as chief executive of GNER railways and commercial director of Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel, will lead the review.
It has said that moving from the cold into the warmer tunnel caused condensation that affected electrical systems.
Shares in Eurotunnel at one stage dropped 3 per cent early on Monday, making the stock among the top losers on France’s SBF120 index.
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“These events might bring one-time charges, but more importantly, the real problem here is Eurotunnel’s image,” one Paris-based trader said