Major disruption of London rail and Eurostar services

Thousands of passengers in London have been hit by rail chaos after all trains to and from Euston were cancelled and a last-minute strike in France hit Eurostar services at St Pancras.

A faulty train led to the disruption of Avanti West Coast trains between Euston and Scotland.

Euston was closed to incoming passengers and operating an intermittent “exit only” system.

Network Rail says lines have reopened but delays will last until 19:00 GMT.

Services between London Euston, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow are affected.

Initially, it was thought the problem was damaged overhead power cables but Network Rail said an investigation had found the issue was a faulty train in the Bourne End area at 12:15 BST.

“All lines were closed while investigations took place into the incident, including drone surveys of the lines, but trains were on the move soon after 15:00,” Network Rail said.

Dozens of Eurostar trains have also been cancelled due to a strike by French Eurotunnel workers in a row over pay.

Several trains were already heading towards the Channel Tunnel when they were forced to return to their starting point.

A Eurostar spokesperson said: “Due to a last-minute strike by Eurotunnel staff, no Channel Tunnel crossings have taken place since 12:00 GMT.

“Unfortunately, Eurostar has had to cancel all trains to and from London until further notice.”

Meanwhile services in and out of King’s Cross are also subject to delays or cancellations because of a tree falling on the East Coast Main Line near Newark.

Passengers at King’s Cross have been posting videos of the station’s concourse, which is full of people and watching departure boards with numerous cancellations showing.

Strong winds from Storm Pia have caused much of the weather-related disruption.

Simon Jones, BBC News correspondent

There are big crowds – and lots of glum faces. People have no idea how they are going to get home across the Channel for Christmas.

A tannoy announcement has informed passengers that even if Eurostar services do resume later today, they are fully booked.

Some people have been scrabbling around to book hotels; others have been trying to find flights or even contemplating getting on ferries from Dover.

The advice for passengers, as ever, is to check before they travel – but the problem is Eurostar and Eurotunnel have very little information to pass on.

So for many, it’s a waiting game.

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