{"id":214768,"date":"2025-06-26T02:49:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T02:49:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/214768\/"},"modified":"2025-06-26T02:49:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T02:49:14","slug":"total-chaos-on-eurostar-but-what-are-passengers-rights-between-london-and-continental-europe-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/214768\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Total chaos\u2019 on Eurostar \u2013 but what are passengers\u2019 rights between London and continental Europe?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Many thousands of <a href=\"https:\/\/uk.news.yahoo.com\/major-delays-eurostar-trains-passengers-071237767.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Eurostar passengers had their travel plans torn up;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Eurostar passengers had their travel plans torn up<\/a> due to a series of incidents on the high-speed line in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/travel\/europe\/france\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:France;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">France <\/a>on Tuesday and Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, two people were struck by trains in separate locations, halting services in the evening Those tragedies were followed by overnight cable theft from the line near <a href=\"https:\/\/uk.news.yahoo.com\/foodie-french-town-less-two-050000168.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Lille;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lille<\/a> in northern France, which caused further disruption on Wednesday morning \u2013 with further cancellations and long delays.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/eurostar\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Eurostar;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Eurostar<\/a> told passengers booked to travel on Wednesday: \u201cWe advise you to cancel or postpone your trip.\u201d Its social media team earlier described the situation as \u201ctotal chaos\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Air fares linking London with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/travel\/europe\/france\/paris\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Paris;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Paris<\/a>, Brussels and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/travel\/europe\/netherlands\/amsterdam\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Amsterdam;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Amsterdam<\/a> soared due to the mass cancellations. Many flights sold out, even with one-way fares topping \u00a3600.<\/p>\n<p>Thousand of people are out of position. Unfortunately for those travellers, care and compensation rules for international rail travellers are far less comprehensive and generous than for airline passengers.<\/p>\n<p>These are the key questions and answers about rail passengers\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n<p>What is the latest?<\/p>\n<p>At <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/st-pancras\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:London St Pancras International;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">London St Pancras International<\/a>, the UK hub for Eurostar, most trains are expected to run to schedule on Thursday. So far only one train, the 12.32pm from Paris to London, has been cancelled on 26 June.<\/p>\n<p>Trains that are running are almost completely full. The only train from London to Paris with any standard class seats is the last of the day, at 8.42pm, costing \u00a3242 one way. Through the day a total of 65 Eurostar Premier seats at \u00a3375 each are available,<\/p>\n<p>The rail firm says anyone who took the advice \u201cto cancel or postpone your trip\u201d has three options:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"caas-list caas-list-bullet\">\n<li>\n<p>\u201cExchange your booking for free to travel in the same travel class at a different date. It only takes a minute to rearrange your trip.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>\u201cCancel your booking and claim an e-voucher. You will have 12 months from the date of your disrupted journey to redeem it on eurostar.com.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>\u201cCancel your booking and get a refund. You\u2019ll receive a refund for the value of your ticket but not for any booking or exchange fees. We&#8217;ll process your request within 28 days.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Many people will want to avail of the chance to rebook for a future date. The e-voucher option looks extremely unappealing \u2013 cash is preferable.<\/p>\n<p>If I spent a fortune on a flight, will Eurostar pay the extra cost?<\/p>\n<p>No. In aviation, when an airline cancels a flight it must cover the cost of getting you to your destination as soon as possible (including, if nothing else is available, in Eurostar Premier class).<\/p>\n<p>But that is not the case for international rail passengers. Even though air fares surged way beyond normal levels, all you can claim back from Eurostar is the original price of your ticket.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/uk.news.yahoo.com\/travel-insurance-why-vital-choose-095946939.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Travel insurance;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Travel insurance<\/a> is the best route for a claim for extra costs.<\/p>\n<p>What care costs am I entitled to from Eurostar?<\/p>\n<p>The rail firm tries to deflect claims, saying: \u201cWe may be able to help with some expenses incurred in the event of a disruption. But your travel insurer should cover you for most things, so it\u2019s best to drop them a line first.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A travel insurer is likely to bounce the claim straight back to Eurostar.<\/p>\n<p>Travellers stranded on Tuesday night were offered a \u00a3250\/\u20ac300 hotel stay and taxi expenses.<\/p>\n<p>What about cash compensation?<\/p>\n<p>There is no possibility of an airline-style payout of hundreds of pounds. The best you can hope for is compensation if you travel with Eurostar on a heavily delayed service. The company offers a choice between a partial refund of the cost of your ticket, or a voucher for future travel within a year \u2013 typically worth 20 to 50 per cent more than the cash refund.<\/p>\n<p>Delays of under an hour do not qualify for compensation. These are the refund rates according to the length of delay in minutes:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"caas-list caas-list-bullet\">\n<li>\n<p>60-119: 25 per cent of journey cost in cash, or 30 per cent as a voucher<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>120 and above: 50 per cent of journey cost in cash, or 60 per cent as a voucher (increasing to 75 per cent for a delay of three hours or more)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Passengers on a Paris-London train on Tuesday that took nearly three times as long as normal were offered 75 per cent of their fare back \u2013 or 125 per cent as a voucher.<\/p>\n<p>Can I claim back for a prepaid hotel abroad?<\/p>\n<p>No. You are unable to claim for costs triggered by the train cancellation, such as a hotel in Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam that you cannot reach.<\/p>\n<p>Travel insurance may cover such a loss.<\/p>\n<p>Any alternatives to Eurostar that don\u2019t involve flying?<\/p>\n<p>Between London and Paris, the most direct route is to take the train from London Victoria via Lewes to Newhaven in East Sussex, sail on the DFDS ferry to Dieppe and continue by train from the port via Rouen to Paris St-Lazare.<\/p>\n<p>The easiest terrestrial alternative to Rotterdam and Amsterdam is by by rail and sea: take the train from London Liverpool Street to Harwich in Essex, the Stena Line ferry to Hook of Holland and then the Metro to central Rotterdam. Onward connections by train are available across the Netherlands, including to Amsterdam.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many thousands of Eurostar passengers had their travel plans torn up due to a series of incidents on&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":214769,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[85412,1476,748,393,1535,4884,257,85413,1411,44072,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-214768","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-airline-passengers","9":"tag-amsterdam","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-eurostar","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-london","15":"tag-london-st-pancras","16":"tag-paris","17":"tag-rail-passengers","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114747392956929133","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}