Wildcat strike that shut down English Channel rail services is over with gradual return of trains

PARIS — A wildcat strike Thursday by staff at Eurotunnel, which links Britain and the European continent and paralyzed dozens of Eurostar trains, ended some six hours after it began, Eurotunnel announced. It promised a gradual return to service.

Eurostar passenger trains will start transporting passengers on Friday, and the rail shuttle known as LeShuttle, which carries vehicles and passengers, was to return to duty starting Thursday night, along with freight trains.

The unannounced strike triggered by what Eurotunnel staff said was an insufficient bonus caused outrage and disarray in train stations as travelers on both sides of the English Channel tried to join families and friends for the Christmas holidays.

Union representatives at Eurotunnel’s French site had rejected a 1,000-euro ($1,100) end-of-year bonus, and went on strike to press a demand to have it tripled, Eurotunnel said earlier. That “resulted in the complete interruption of service and the closure of our terminals in France and the UK,” the statement said.

It said that 30 Eurostar passenger trains had been canceled out of London, Paris or Brussels.

Eurostar and Eurotunnel are two separate companies.

French Transport Minister Clement Beaune had called the stoppage “unacceptable,” insisting on the need for a quick solution.

“I salute the spirit of responsibility of all concerned,” he said later on X, formerly Twitter, noting the end of the Channel Tunnel blockage.

“Eurotunnel (officials) and union representatives reached an accord,” a Eurotunnel statement said, saluting the agreement - but not specifying any specifics of the deal.

It said earlier that affected customers would be able to exchange their tickets free of charge or claim a refund.

Tim Kelsey, of Oxford, was among victims of the strike, stranded at Paris’ Gare du Nord train station.

“We learned about the strike here, when we arrived here at the station. It’s an outrage, being stuck here this close to Christmas,” he said. “What are the strikers thinking about?” He bemoaned the lack of any offer of accommodations in Paris.

“No trains available today or tomorrow. How am I going to get home to my children?” Kelsey asked. “It’s going to be a lonely Christmas on the streets of Paris.”