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Eurostar 'reduced' until after Christmas
Dick Murray, Transport Editor29.09.08
Eurostar services through the Channel Tunnel will not return to normal until after Christmas, senior sources said today.
This means there will be a reduced service between St Pancras International and Paris and Brussels at one of the busiest times of the year.
Passenger, car and freight trains were brought to a halt on 11 September after a fire broke out in a lorry aboard a Eurotunnel train. Six people were hurt and tens of thousands of passengers suffered disruption and had to make alternative arrangements by air and sea.
A further section of the tunnel was reopened today - but the area close to the French coast where the fire occurred remains closed.
Eurostar said today it was now operating an 80 per cent service to Paris (15 trains a day), and 60 per cent (six trains) to Brussels.
A Eurostar spokesman said: "Later this week we will increase our service to 90 per cent of normal. We are taking bookings for the Christmas period which is always very busy.
"We will cope, we will get people where they want to go, albeit the journeys may take a little longer."
Norman Baker, Liberal Democrat transport spokesman, said today that the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority must consider whether the open design of the HGV shuttle wagons should be outlawed.
