Industrial action by French frontier officials has led to the cancellation of five trains between St Pancras International and Paris Nord.
Passengers booked on the Eurostar train today and tomorrow from the French capital have been asked to travel only if it was absolute necessary as there will be long queues, delays and cancellations. Earlier there was a weekend of disruption for the Eurostar travellers between London and Paris.
From London to Paris all 13 departures were scheduled by the Eurostar but overnight the 7.41 am was cancelled along with the inbound service.
For all Eurostar services from Paris to London the cross-Channel train operator said that they experienced severe delays and long queues.
Passengers had the option of changing ticket free of charge to a future date or either claim a full refund.
However, those willing to travel could still proceed to the ticket gates at time indicated.
Around 17,000 Frontier official asked for higher pay and improved working conditions for some time but the government pay offer was rejected by their union as insufficient. Further ,Brexit added more to the dispute as there will be much greater scrutiny and tough new rules on passport validity.
The UK will leave EU only after 11 days and only on the occasion if a postponement happens or a deal is reached –the French official will be requiring more staff to process British travellers who would them become a third-country citizens’.
The long delays affecting the Paris-London services might lead to knock-on delays and some trains might go out of position. So far the services to and from Amsterdam appears to be unaffected.
By Tuesday evening the work-to-rule will end but there might be similar scenes in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
Tags: Brexit, Eurostar train, london, mass travel disruption, Paris
