Chaos in Calais: P&O Ferries appoints Eurotunnel as responsible
After a train breakdown diverted hundreds of vehicles to the port after a Channel evacuation worthy of a disaster movie.
Hundreds of travelers lined up at the port of Calais to catch a ferry to Folkestone last night after a Eurotunnel train breakdown prompted distraught passengers to seek alternative routes to the UK .
The initial outage, which occurred at the end of the day on Tuesday, affected the Le Shuttle service of Eurotunnel from Calais to Folkestone at 3:50 p.m. and one leads hundreds of passengers to be directed to a service tunnel.
One passenger described the situation as “worthy of a disaster movie”, as footage showed dozens of travelers standing in a tunnel lined with pipes and cables. Some passengers have complained of being stranded for almost five hours.
As a result, many passengers still stranded in Calais attempted to take a ferry to Folkestone but faced huge queues at the French port.
A furious passenger told the MailOnline that she and her husband, along with ‘hundreds’ of other passengers due to catch the 7.50pm train to Folkestone, had to wait until half past midnight and then were told to take a ferry instead after informing them that there would be no more trains during the night.
She said they then waited in a ‘huge queue’ at the Calais ferry terminal until 1am and did not board a ship until 8.30am (7.30am GMT ).
She added that Eurotunnel staff were ‘rude and unhelpful’ and told them a ‘lie’ that the ferries ran every hour. The customer also lashed out at P&O, saying there was “no access to water, food or toilets” during the queues at check-in.