UK: Sparks at St Pancras?
Posted: 28 Sep 2009, 11:22
Two different styles of reporting the same incident...
Eurostar delayed by power fault
Page last updated at 14:19 GMT, Thursday, 24 September 2009 15:19 UK
BBC
Eleven Eurostar services were delayed when a power line collapsed as a train pulled into St Pancras on Wednesday.
Automatic circuit-breakers isolated the electricity supply and no-one was hurt. There were 554 passengers on the train.
Eurostar said: "There was a loud bang and smoke. We are treating this incident extremely seriously."
The company added: "All the procedures and processes that we have in place worked well." Services have returned to normal.
Passengers flee as 25,000-volt cable snaps at St Pancras
Felix Allen and Alison Richards
Evening Standard
24.09.09
Passengers disembarking a Eurostar train were forced to flee in terror as a live overhead cable fell inches from them.
The high voltage cable collapsed as the 5.13pm train from Paris to London drew into platform nine at St Pancras International yesterday.
Travellers screamed as it snaked uncontrollably across the platform, showering sparks and narrowly missing them.
One passenger, Michael Stirling said: “I was just helping someone off the train with their bags when I heard this fizzling noise.
“Suddenly this huge cable snapped. It was snaking all over the platform. People were screaming and throwing themselves out of the way. It was obviously live because there was a continuous vibration and every time it touched the ground it was like a firework display. If it had touched anyone they would have been killed.â€
Mr Stirling, 37, from north London, said he and other passengers fled the platform as soon as they could.
“I just crouched down behind the stairwell,†he said. “There were hundreds of people there. People were rushing towards the exit. I was worried because I didn't know if anyone got hurt.â€
The fire brigade were called as engineers worked on shutting down the cable.
A spokeswoman for London Fire Brigade said: “We attended at St Pancras platform 9 where a high voltage cable was short circuiting. It was dealt with by Network Rail engineers and declared safe at 7.14pm.†There were no injuries.
An investigation has been launched into how the cable, which provides the energy for the train, became dislodged.
Bram Smets, spokesman for Eurostar, said: “We had a catenary [wiring] problem after a cable came loose. No one was hurt. Engineers are trying to find out how this happened and to find out who is responsible for the fault.â€
The incident caused travel chaos as all Eurostar trains were halted with the electricity on the line cut off and none went in or out of St Pancras for two hours.
Trains were eventually on the move by 9.30pm.
Pub chef Wojtek Wawrzyniak, 33, from Andover, Hants, was stuck coming back from a holiday in Paris with 15 friends visiting from Brazil.
He said: “It was very frustrating. They told us there's no electricity in the station.
“The train stopped somewhere in Kent and we were just sitting there for over two hours.
“We had booked hire cars at Heathrow to get home but we are too late and now we will all have to spend the night in a hotel.â€
Software consultant Amit Singh, 34, from Reading, Berks, was on a train from Paris that was held up at Calais.
He said: “We were stuck just before the tunnel for an hour and a half. It's annoying because I have another train to catch.
“They said we can have a free one-way ticket to Paris to make up for it. What's the use of that? You would have to buy another ticket to get home again.
“It's a pointless gesture.â€
Honeymooners Jose-Luis Perez, 27, and Anna Mendoza, 25, from Mexico City, were caught up returning through Paris on the last leg of a European tour.
Mr Perez said: “We suddenly stopped for over an hour somewhere in France and we didn't know if we were going to get to London. We have to get to Gatwick for our flight home.â€
Mr Smets said that passengers who were delayed by more than two hours would be compensated by a voucher for a return journey and those delayed by one hour would get a single journey.
Eurostar delayed by power fault
Page last updated at 14:19 GMT, Thursday, 24 September 2009 15:19 UK
BBC
Eleven Eurostar services were delayed when a power line collapsed as a train pulled into St Pancras on Wednesday.
Automatic circuit-breakers isolated the electricity supply and no-one was hurt. There were 554 passengers on the train.
Eurostar said: "There was a loud bang and smoke. We are treating this incident extremely seriously."
The company added: "All the procedures and processes that we have in place worked well." Services have returned to normal.
Passengers flee as 25,000-volt cable snaps at St Pancras
Felix Allen and Alison Richards
Evening Standard
24.09.09
Passengers disembarking a Eurostar train were forced to flee in terror as a live overhead cable fell inches from them.
The high voltage cable collapsed as the 5.13pm train from Paris to London drew into platform nine at St Pancras International yesterday.
Travellers screamed as it snaked uncontrollably across the platform, showering sparks and narrowly missing them.
One passenger, Michael Stirling said: “I was just helping someone off the train with their bags when I heard this fizzling noise.
“Suddenly this huge cable snapped. It was snaking all over the platform. People were screaming and throwing themselves out of the way. It was obviously live because there was a continuous vibration and every time it touched the ground it was like a firework display. If it had touched anyone they would have been killed.â€
Mr Stirling, 37, from north London, said he and other passengers fled the platform as soon as they could.
“I just crouched down behind the stairwell,†he said. “There were hundreds of people there. People were rushing towards the exit. I was worried because I didn't know if anyone got hurt.â€
The fire brigade were called as engineers worked on shutting down the cable.
A spokeswoman for London Fire Brigade said: “We attended at St Pancras platform 9 where a high voltage cable was short circuiting. It was dealt with by Network Rail engineers and declared safe at 7.14pm.†There were no injuries.
An investigation has been launched into how the cable, which provides the energy for the train, became dislodged.
Bram Smets, spokesman for Eurostar, said: “We had a catenary [wiring] problem after a cable came loose. No one was hurt. Engineers are trying to find out how this happened and to find out who is responsible for the fault.â€
The incident caused travel chaos as all Eurostar trains were halted with the electricity on the line cut off and none went in or out of St Pancras for two hours.
Trains were eventually on the move by 9.30pm.
Pub chef Wojtek Wawrzyniak, 33, from Andover, Hants, was stuck coming back from a holiday in Paris with 15 friends visiting from Brazil.
He said: “It was very frustrating. They told us there's no electricity in the station.
“The train stopped somewhere in Kent and we were just sitting there for over two hours.
“We had booked hire cars at Heathrow to get home but we are too late and now we will all have to spend the night in a hotel.â€
Software consultant Amit Singh, 34, from Reading, Berks, was on a train from Paris that was held up at Calais.
He said: “We were stuck just before the tunnel for an hour and a half. It's annoying because I have another train to catch.
“They said we can have a free one-way ticket to Paris to make up for it. What's the use of that? You would have to buy another ticket to get home again.
“It's a pointless gesture.â€
Honeymooners Jose-Luis Perez, 27, and Anna Mendoza, 25, from Mexico City, were caught up returning through Paris on the last leg of a European tour.
Mr Perez said: “We suddenly stopped for over an hour somewhere in France and we didn't know if we were going to get to London. We have to get to Gatwick for our flight home.â€
Mr Smets said that passengers who were delayed by more than two hours would be compensated by a voucher for a return journey and those delayed by one hour would get a single journey.