Channel Tunnel Rail Operator Promises Restart of Limited Service
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C M Y K Nxxx,2009-12-22,A,012,Bs-4C,E1 A12 N THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2009 Channel Tunnel Rail Operator Promises Restart of Limited Service Long Firefight By DAVID JOLLY With Militants PARIS — With thousands of passengers stranded on both sides of the English Channel and Immobilizes a public rebuke from President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, the Afghan City operator of Eurostar trains vowed Monday to resume at least By ALISSA J. RUBIN partial service by Tuesday. KABUL, Afghanistan — A pro- All train service was canceled vincial government official said again on Monday, the third full that Afghan security forces and day of disruption, as Eurostar ran American troops killed five heav- tests to determine the cause of ily armed men who attacked a po- the breakdowns that left thou- lice headquarters in the center of sands of people stranded Friday Gardez, the capital of the south- on five London-bound trains in eastern province of Paktia Prov- the 31-mile Channel Tunnel. The ince. failures have now affected nearly The firefight immobilized the 90,000 passengers. city for about four hours, said the Mr. Sarkozy, perhaps sensing official, Rahullah Samon, a danger to the image of France’s spokesman for the governor’s of- vaunted railroad technology, said fice. But he said that only two of Monday that he had called Gui- the attacker’s bodies had been re- llaume Pepy, Eurostar’s chair- covered, raising the possibility man, on the carpet over the “un- that several had in fact escaped. acceptable incidents.” Mr. Sarko- Four police officers and three zy also called on Eurostar to pro- civilians were wounded, Mr. Samon said. vide more information to pas- A Taliban spokesman, Zabiul- sengers, the Élysée Palace said lah Mujahid, said that five suicide in a statement. bombers entered the Gardez po- On Friday, those trapped in the lice headquarters around 9 a.m. tunnel had no food or water and and attacked a class of police re- little idea of what was happening, cruits while foreign mentors and both Eurostar and the tunnel were taking daily attendance. operator, Eurotunnel, have been The attackers wore suicide roundly criticized for poor crisis vests and carried AK-47 rifles, communications. The companies machine guns and rocket-pro- were already seeking to restore a pelled grenades, according to Mr. TOBY MELVILLE/REUTERS reputation that suffered after a Samon. September 2008 fire in the tunnel. A traveler confronted Richard Brown, left, chief executive of Eurostar, on Monday at the St. Pancras station in London. A Health Department worker, Minutes after Mr. Sarkozy’s Pushtun Wali, was reached by announcement, Nicolas Petrovic, mate the cost of the fiasco to tion that the sharp temperature snow on the East Coast. cellphone during the attack. “The Eurostar’s chief operating officer, As thousands are Eurostar, but he said it would be difference between the cold out- Lufthansa, the German carrier, fight is ongoing; the roads are told journalists at the Gare du left stranded, an “very expensive.” About 88,000 side and the relatively warm air had to cancel 300 flights over the blocked; we have admitted Nord in Paris that the company passengers appear to have been inside the tunnel under the Eng- weekend, with flights to Amster- wounded to the hospital, both would begin “limited” service on executive hears from stranded, a company spokes- lish Channel caused extreme con- dam, Düsseldorf and Brussels military and civilian,” he said. Tuesday with 26,000 seats avail- woman said; many of them will densation in critical electrical particularly affected, said Thom- “Afghan National Army, Afghan able, about two-thirds the normal France’s president. have canceled their trips alto- parts on the trains, resulting in as Jachnow, a spokesman. National Police and U.S. forces level. But he said he did not ex- gether, she said, while others electrical failure. All Eurostar Ryanair, the leading European are here. pect a full resumption of service have already found alternative trains are electric. low-cost airline, sought to take “My brother was wounded in until next Monday, and he urged backlog caused by a weekend in means of travel. It is not clear why the condi- advantage of the Eurostar trou- the shootout,” he said, his voice people who could defer their trav- which hundreds of flights were “The worst thing is being told tions this year, which are not ap- bles, offering special fares and shaking. “People are panicked, so many terrible stories by other preciably worse than in previous everyone is trying to leave the el to do so. scratched or delayed, British Air- flights for stranded passengers passengers,” said Rebecca winters, should have been a fac- area.” The problems stymied travel- ways canceled all European and from London Stansted and Paris Brown, 17, who arrived in Paris tor. There have been repeated at- ers as they began their holiday domestic flights from Heathrow Beauvais Airports. Airport in London. from Britain on Thursday for a Both the French secretary of tacks on police and army service journeys amid extreme weather “Everything at the Paris air- At the Eurostar news confer- shopping trip and was waiting at state for transportation, Domi- members in recent weeks, as that has killed more than 80 peo- ports is O.K.,” said Eric Héraud, a ence, Mr. Petrovic said that the Gare du Nord on Monday. “We nique Bussereau, and the British NATO and the United States fo- ple in Europe and severely dis- spokesman for the French civil rupted air and road traffic on company had put up “several hear so many rumors from other minister of state for transport, cus on increasing the size and ef- hundred” stranded passengers in passengers but get no informa- Sadiq Khan, called for investiga- aviation authority. “The problem ficiency of Afghan security both sides of the Atlantic. Late is that the final destination air- Monday, with European airlines hotels and that it would reim- tion from Eurostar.” tions of the breakdown, and forces. Adding to the Taliban’s ports — in the U.K., in Madrid still seeking to dig out from the burse those who had paid for ho- “It’s the worst time of year for Eurostar said separately that its volatility in Paktia, where the tel accommodation out of their something like this to happen,” own board had ordered a review. and Düsseldorf — have been hav- group has been active, is a wide- ing terrible weather.” Tanaya Macheel contributed re- own pockets. He also said that her friend, Jessica Loney, also 17, Through the weekend and on spread sense that the central Meanwhile, the forecast for porting. the sheer number of passengers said as they sat at a cafe in Gare Monday, transportation prob- government is unresponsive to meant the company was unable du Nord. lems were compounded by flight much of Europe calls for contin- their needs. to provide bus service through Aude Criqui, a spokeswoman delays caused by poor weather in ued cold weather, with snow, rain Do not forget the Neediest! the tunnel for everyone. for Eurostar, said the company Europe and the United States, and icy conditions through at Sangar Rahimi and Taimoor Shah Mr. Petrovic declined to esti- was working from the assump- where a huge storm dumped least the weekend. contributed reporting. .