Travel disruptions and cancellations on New Year’s Eve due to train cancellations and passengers advised against traveling.

Many travelers have had their New Year’s Eve celebrations disrupted due to the cancellation of hundreds of trains nationwide, and the ongoing chaos with Eurostar has extended into a second day.

Due to excessive rainfall and a shortage of employees, train services were cancelled or delayed. It is predicted that the situation may worsen due to the increasingly severe weather.

Despite Eurostar trains resuming on Sunday morning, the company was unable to provide additional services for tens of thousands of customers whose trains were cancelled on Saturday due to tunnel flooding. This caused further chaos for the affected customers.

Even though both tunnels were back in service, the disruptions in travel continued as approximately 36,000 customers were struggling to secure a spot on Sunday trains, most of which were already fully booked.

At just after 8am, the inaugural Eurostar train departed from London St Pancras International on its way to Paris. Meanwhile, there were passengers lining up at the station attempting to purchase tickets.

Bert Maes and Nele Lievens, both aged 45, were standing in a long line for tickets, hoping to secure seats on a train back to Brussels for Sunday. They wanted to be able to celebrate the new year countdown with their two daughters, as their originally planned train on Saturday had been cancelled.

Ms Bert informed us that our tickets were cancelled yesterday. If you would like a replacement ticket, you will need to join this line and hope that there are available tickets. We are hoping to return home today, but there is no guarantee that there will be tickets available. Therefore, we must be patient and continue waiting, even though it may be a lengthy process.

He stated that they had waited in line for approximately thirty minutes. He also mentioned that they had tried to reserve tickets for today, but they were all booked. However, they were informed that there may be additional spots available on a train, so they are hoping to secure two tickets. If not, they will have to wait until tomorrow, but that would mean missing the holidays at home with their two children.

On Sunday, 22-year-old Emilio Fernandez, a French citizen, came back to the station accompanied by his parents, sister, and four-year-old nephew, Amani.

He stated that their departure on Saturday was scheduled for later, but it ended up being cancelled in the afternoon. They were concerned because it was crucial for them to return to their home country to celebrate New Year’s Eve there. They are still anxious because they are uncertain if they will be able to leave as planned.

A different group of individuals who journeyed to Brussels for an unexpected excursion for their family member from Canada expressed feeling “stuck” and isolated in the city due to flooding that disrupted Eurostar services.

Luke Gibbs, a 32-year-old man from Kenley in south London, journeyed with his wife, Kyla, as well as his cousin Liam Eton and sister-in-law Brea Melanson from Canada. They had intended to reach London in time for the New Year’s Eve festivities on Sunday.

A New Year’s Eve event in London Bridge was purchased by Mr. Gibbs, a business development manager, at a cost of £600. Unfortunately, due to a cancelled train from Brussels to St. Pancras, he is now unable to attend. The event is non-refundable and Mr. Gibbs expressed dissatisfaction with the communication from Eurostar, describing it as “appalling”.

Mr. Gibbs expressed his disappointment with the way [Eurostar] handled the situation, stating that they did not attempt to provide guidance on rebooking or offer assistance with expenses.

“They just said, ‘unfortunately, it’s cancelled, we’re sorry, get on with it’, which is shocking really.”

In the meantime, Northern Trains has announced a travel advisory for December 31 on routes connecting Manchester Victoria to Chester and Stalybridge, and Manchester Piccadilly to Chester via Altrincham.

Passengers were advised that there will be no trains operating on routes from Preston to Colne, Bolton to Clitheroe, and Lancaster to Morecambe on the final day of the year.

The railway company informed travelers: “Due to lack of available train crew, we will be running a limited schedule in the northwest.”

Employees of Northern Trains who work on the west side of the Pennines do not have Sundays as part of their regular work week. Therefore, on New Year’s Eve, as with any other Sunday, additional hours are necessary to operate services.

In other areas, there were many cancellations for both long-distance and local trains. LNER, a railway company that operates trains between London King’s Cross, Yorkshire, northeast England, and Scotland, has cancelled or shortened over 20 intercity trains on New Year’s Eve.

Many trains on the Thameslink route that runs through central London, connecting Bedford and Luton to Gatwick and Brighton, were cancelled due to a lack of staff.

There will be no regular overnight services available during the early hours of New Year’s Day.

The UK may experience additional disturbances from wind and rain as cautioned by the Met Office.

According to the forecaster, there are currently wind warnings in effect until midnight on Sunday. This may cause potential delays for transportation by road, rail, air, and ferry.

The North West region, specifically Manchester, Blackburn, Burnley, and Blackpool, has been placed under a yellow rain warning from 6pm on Sunday until 6am on Monday. Locally, there is a possibility of 30-40mm of rain.

The strongest wind gusts reported on Sunday were 74mph on the Isle of Wight, 64mph at Mumbles near Swansea, and 62mph on the Isles of Scilly.

Source: independent.co.uk