So, Eurotunnel have 4 trains stuck....

[Pupp]

500+ passengers per train

Hope the heaters are working

[Frederick]

"The temperature difference between the chilly open air and warm tunnel under the English Channel caused the trains to break down, Eurostar said."

Well that's a new one!!!...

Link Here

Edited to add linky

Edited by Frederick on Saturday 19th December 02:29

[theboyfold]

fksocks I'm due to ride a eurostar home from Brussels in about 6 hours.

Might need to sober up in that time

[T89 Callan]

What can we learn from this?

Well we can learn that trains are st.

[AndrewW-G]

Damn, global warming strikes again

[theboyfold]

Stuck at Brussels. Balls. Lucky for me i still have a plane ticket for tomorrow. See my other post for the full story...

[vonhosen]

T89 Callan said:

What can we learn from this?

Well we can learn that trains are st.

Well at least they didn't crash (like a lot of people driving cars did).

[Hedders]

vonhosen said:

T89 Callan said:

What can we learn from this?

Well we can learn that trains are st.

Well at least they didn't crash (like a lot of people driving cars did).

Let's not tempt fate Von

[vonhosen]

Guam said:

vonhosen said:

T89 Callan said:

What can we learn from this?

Well we can learn that trains are st.

Well at least they didn't crash (like a lot of people driving cars did).

Really? I am mortified, people crashing cars in extreme weather conditions whatever next!

But the sad thing is it an awful lot of cases it was their stupidity that was the deciding factor more so than the conditions. They just blame the conditions.

[Hedders]

vonhosen said:

Guam said:

vonhosen said:

T89 Callan said:

What can we learn from this?

Well we can learn that trains are st.

Well at least they didn't crash (like a lot of people driving cars did).

Really? I am mortified, people crashing cars in extreme weather conditions whatever next!

But the sad thing is it an awful lot of cases it was their stupidity that was the deciding factor more so than the conditions. They just blame the conditions.

I know two people who had accidents yesterday and neither of the blamed the conditions! They both blamed the Recent arrivers to the country that drove into them at 30-40mph with all wheels locked

[lost in espace]

A friend stuffed his Lexi RH300 (four wheel drive thingy) in to a ditch on Thursday night in the snow, they tried to pull it out but it got more stuck so it required lifting out. They were due to go on the Eurotunnel last night, so it turned out this wee crash saved them from a lot of agro!

[munroman]

Any experts here who can advise why this might happen-massive condensation from warm damp air hitting cold electrical equipment?

Why not before?

[fastfreddy]

I'm guessing, but Eurotunnel does have a lot of very sensitive sensors in the trains and tunnels which could have been affected by condensation and decided to shut the high voltage supply off.

A lot of condensation could cause arcing across high voltage supplies which would also cause the safety circuits to trip.

As to why it happened now, I suspect it's just a freak temperature differential between the outside air and tunnel temperature they haven't experienced before.

TBH, Eurotunnel has been very reliable since it started so a multiple systems failure like this was probably overdue.

[s.m.h.]

vonhosen said:

Guam said:

vonhosen said:

T89 Callan said:

What can we learn from this?

Well we can learn that trains are st.

Well at least they didn't crash (like a lot of people driving cars did).

Really? I am mortified, people crashing cars in extreme weather conditions whatever next!

But the sad thing is it an awful lot of cases it was their stupidity that was the deciding factor more so than the conditions. They just blame the conditions.

I have to agree whole-heartedly with this.
Yesterday I had a meeting in Petersfield, about 70 miles each way, the drive there was pretty un-eventful though took nearly exactly the same time due to fewer drivers, even though it was at a slower speed due to conditions.
The return journey. Well I wish I had a camera as there were 4 piss-boilers...
Twice in the space of a few miles on one 60 limit road, I had people pull out in front of me with frost covered windows, one so close I had to go around the outside to avoid hitting them.
Another was "boy racer" thinking I should allow him to swipe the side of my car because he felt it was safer to accellerate onto the roundabout and take the lane I was in in doing so.
Finally, and I wish I had looked for the number plate (Truck had a green Driver logo on the side) - a HGV driving down the outside of a dual carriage way with the righ hand wheels in the snow and sludge, laughing as he covered all and sundry in the single lane going the other way. What a cock. The stuff hit my car so hard I thought it had damaged it.
Thankfully I dont need to go out tonight, just opened my 4th Corona so calming nicely

[munroman]

fastfreddy said:

I'm guessing, but Eurotunnel does have a lot of very sensitive sensors in the trains and tunnels which could have been affected by condensation and decided to shut the high voltage supply off.

A lot of condensation could cause arcing across high voltage supplies which would also cause the safety circuits to trip.

As to why it happened now, I suspect it's just a freak temperature differential between the outside air and tunnel temperature they haven't experienced before.

TBH, Eurotunnel has been very reliable since it started so a multiple systems failure like this was probably overdue.

Some discussion on 5 Live tonight that it is a problem that has occurred on a number of previous occasions,the fact that 5 trains were involved meant that there weren't enough resources to deal with it properly.

[Steve748]

I have never used the Eurostar and stuff like this isn't going to tempt me to use it in the future........

[CatherineJ]

I've just read that another one has got stuck recently in Kent. They have no food and no heating or lighting.

[anonymous-user]

CatherineJ said:

I've just read that another one has got stuck recently in Kent. They have no food and no heating or lighting.

Friend of mine is stuck on it. I pretended to sympathise with her over the phone while sipping beer and eating my christmas supply of quality street.

Suckers

[theboyfold]

Steve748 said:

I have never used the Eurostar and stuff like this isn't going to tempt me to use it in the future........

I use it a lot and it's normally very good. Much more relaxed than flying I find.

[sawman]

munroman said:

fastfreddy said:

I'm guessing, but Eurotunnel does have a lot of very sensitive sensors in the trains and tunnels which could have been affected by condensation and decided to shut the high voltage supply off.

A lot of condensation could cause arcing across high voltage supplies which would also cause the safety circuits to trip.

As to why it happened now, I suspect it's just a freak temperature differential between the outside air and tunnel temperature they haven't experienced before.

TBH, Eurotunnel has been very reliable since it started so a multiple systems failure like this was probably overdue.

Some discussion on 5 Live tonight that it is a problem that has occurred on a number of previous occasions,the fact that 5 trains were involved meant that there weren't enough resources to deal with it properly.

I used the shuttle on wednesday, there had beeen a breakdown earlier in the day, the terminal in calais was mayhem - glad i wasnt travelling today!