Hundreds of rail passengers were left stranded for hours outside St Pancras International on Wednesday morning after a broken-down Eurostar train triggered widespread disruption during another day of intense heat in the capital.
Around 250 commuters became trapped inside a tunnel after the Eurostar service, which was not carrying passengers, ground to a halt on the approach to the station. A second train sent to assist also developed faults, compounding the disruption and forcing further rescue operations to clear the line.
Thousands of passengers travelling between London and Kent faced severe delays as services backed up across the network during the morning rush hour.
Some travellers reportedly missed flights and onward European connections, while others were forced to divert to Stratford station and continue their journeys via the Underground and the Elizabeth Line amid sweltering conditions across the capital.
The disruption came as Britain continued to experience unusually high temperatures following Tuesday’s record-breaking heat, when thermometers reached 35C at Kew Gardens — the hottest May Day ever recorded in the UK.
Although temperatures eased slightly on Wednesday, forecasters still expected highs of around 27C in London, with transport operators continuing to battle heat-related strain on infrastructure and services.
Scott Brightwell, safety, planning and performance director at Southeastern, apologised to passengers affected by the disruption and urged eligible customers to apply for compensation through the company’s delay repay scheme.
He said a Eurostar and a Southeastern train had both developed faults near the station, reducing the number of available lines and severely limiting services into St Pancras.
Passengers were advised they could use tickets on the Elizabeth Line, London Underground and Thameslink services at no additional cost while engineers worked to restore normal operations.
A Eurostar spokesman said the company took any incident involving its trains “very seriously” and confirmed refreshments had been provided for delayed passengers at the station.
Services gradually began returning to normal later in the day, though delays continued to affect parts of the network into the afternoon.
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