Eurostar evacuated after stranded passengers wait hours on 'boiling' train for rescue

6 July 2025, 18:03 | Updated: 6 July 2025, 18:11

Passengers said they were "overheating" aboard the broken-down Eurostar train as they waited more than five hours for help to arrive.

Passengers travelling on the Eurostar from Brussels to London on Sunday morning were left stranded in baking heat for over five hours after the train broke down in France, which is still sweltering under the heatwave that has gripped Europe this week.

The stranded passengers took to social media to complain of the conditions on board the broken-down train, including a lack of functioning air conditioning, overflowing toilets and poor communication from Eurostar regarding the situation.

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One passenger, Edward Hardy, wrote on X that passengers had had "no communication from staff" and that people were "overheating in the carriages."

Another, Michael Andrews, shared that passengers were "slowly boiling alive" on board the stationary train, and that train toilets were full.

Eurostar said at 11:55am that a replacement train had been dispatched to take passengers to London and would arrive around 1:30pm local time.

However, X user Alana Roberts later wrote: "16.00 and still waiting for the replacement train, people have had to take evacuation into their own hands", as she shared footage of passengers disembarking the train onto the tracks with their luggage.

Emergency services and local rescue teams arrived nearly four hours after the train came to a standstill and handed out water.

A replacement train arrived to rescue passengers by 16:45 local time, according to reports from passengers on X.

Eurostar apologised and said the train had broken down due to a power failure. It offered customers a full refund.

"We understand how difficult this experience has been and sincerely apologise for the disruption and discomfort caused," it said in a statement.

It also said that train doors were opened to allow fresh air to circulate, and water was distributed, in an attempt to relieve some of the passengers' discomfort.

The train left Brussels at 8:52am local time on Sunday morning and was due to arrive in London just two hours later.

As passengers waited for the replacement train, a band called Stornoway, from Oxford, provided some track-side entertainment. They ad-libbed lyrics about the situation as they performed a song for fellow passengers which began: "We've been broken down for six hours long, being on the Eurostar sure ain't no fun."

At 5:03pm UK time, one X user thanked the band and said that all passengers are now on board the rescue train.