maggyd Posted December 20, 2009 Share Posted December 20, 2009 W3526602 - 2009-12-20 7:10 AM Hi, My first question was why don't they send in a diesel locomotive? Because it will poison the air in the tunnel, I replied to myself. So I then invented the hydogen powered loco. But later I saw a TV shot of a train being pulled by two locos. If they had locos, why didn't they use them? My next idea was a long chain, like they use on vernacular railways. Or fit each carriage with a "hand pump", beloved of Buster Keaton. Or as I once heard on the radio ..... "First Class passengers get out and walk. Second Class passengers get out and push". Yikes! I must have heard that at least 50 years ago. 602 As I understand it :-S the locos are owned by eurotunnel not eurostar so maybe it was a case of red tape that they were'nt allowed to use them straight away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archiesgrandad Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 It's the lack of reliability that gets me. Thousands of people stuck in France and not able to get through the tunnel, and my sister in law drove up from the Dordogne yesterday, through the tunnel and on to Windsor in lessthan twelve hours. There is no justice. AGD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallii Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Breakdowns happen, it's a fact of life. I can accept that any mechanical or electronic/electrical piece of kit will, at some time break down, no matter how well made it is (Apollo 13?). Having spoken to someone who was on one of the trains, what was totally unacceptable was the way passengers where treated. Children, O.A.P.s (like me) disabled and of course ordinary joe public were all kept locked in a carriage without ventilation, without any information or communication with any person in authority at all. After three hours when women were fainting from the heat and lack of air, when the children were screaming to get out they smashed their way out through a door and got on to the walkway. That's what is unacceptable, I hope they sue the Tunnel Company for the distress and injury. They deserve to win. Hallii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 davenewell@home - 2009-12-20 8:17 AM I think you meant funicular not vernacular 602. It appears that only the Eurostar trains are affected in this way as Eurotunnel's own trains which carry cargo and vehicles are fine. D. Thank you Dave - which is precisely why I thought it not to be a "Motorhome Matter" when I queried its position. It would only affect motorhomers who were travelling by Eurostar - i.e. minus their motorhomes. I concede it will have caused chaos and lengthy delays at the terminal, because the shuttles couldn't run until the Eurostars were "de-tunnelled", but that wasn't the flavour of the original post.No offence intended, and I'll freely admit to being a bit picky if it helps. Nevertheless, if the forum headings are not respected, and everything gets indiscriminately lumped in together, we all lose. No? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hymer1942 Posted December 21, 2009 Author Share Posted December 21, 2009 Brian if you are on some sort of campaign please be fair and pick up on at least 25 items a day that should be elswhere. Barrie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 hallii - 2009-12-21 3:28 PM Breakdowns happen, it's a fact of life. I can accept that any mechanical or electronic/electrical piece of kit will, at some time break down, no matter how well made it is (Apollo 13?). Having spoken to someone who was on one of the trains, what was totally unacceptable was the way passengers where treated. Children, O.A.P.s (like me) disabled and of course ordinary joe public were all kept locked in a carriage without ventilation, without any information or communication with any person in authority at all. After three hours when women were fainting from the heat and lack of air, when the children were screaming to get out they smashed their way out through a door and got on to the walkway. That's what is unacceptable, I hope they sue the Tunnel Company for the distress and injury. They deserve to win. Hallii I agree with your " breakdowns will happen" bit but it seems a bit odd the way they responded. How on earth did they manage to get 5 trains stuck ? :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 hymer1942 - 2009-12-21 8:05 PM Brian if you are on some sort of campaign please be fair and pick up on at least 25 items a day that should be elswhere. Barrie Why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 malc d - 2009-12-21 8:26 PM .............. I agree with your " breakdowns will happen" bit but it seems a bit odd the way they responded. How on earth did they manage to get 5 trains stuck ? :-( Maybe they sent them in to pull the first one out? :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 Brian Kirby - 2009-12-21 11:04 PMmalc d - 2009-12-21 8:26 PM .............. I agree with your " breakdowns will happen" bit but it seems a bit odd the way they responded. How on earth did they manage to get 5 trains stuck ? :-( Maybe they sent them in to pull the first one out? :-)Well that might explain the first one or two ............ :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 Hi Brian - The reason I thought that this was precisely in the right forum was for the simple reason that, as the Eurostar trains were having problems and getting stuck in the tunnel, then it stood to reason that ALL trains that used that tunnel could potentially have problems, if not with the mechanics themselves, then by the delays that not being able to use the tunnel freely would cause. This has, in fact, become the case. As for why 5 became stuck - as far as I can ascertain it didn't happen all at once. I would assume that at first they thought it was a problem with one or two trains and, in an effort to keep the 'punters' happy (ie customers), they continued to try to get people across. Obviously once the 5th train was stranded they would have sussed that there was more to it and hence the suspension of the service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 Well, OK Mel, maybe I was being a bit crabby. I confess I was getting a bit irritated generally by misplaced posts, as it does rather clutter the "important" bits of the forum. A bit of a last straw reaction, I'm afraid, and as you say events bore out the relevance, so I hope poor Barrie isn't too cross with me!On the five stuck trains, I'm dumbstruck! I know Eurostars were originally intended to run as what they called "flighted pairs", one Paris one Brussels with ten minutes between. So, if unlucky, you might get the first of a pair stuck, and maybe a shuttle. However, this tunnel is supposed to have one of the most sophisticated signalling, security, surveillance and communications systems in the world. It is inconceivable to me that, knowing you have a train stationary in the tunnel, you just allow others in to join the queue. Surely, someone, knowing a train was stationary, would have contacted the driver (via that sophisticated communications system) and, if they could not raise him/her, stop other trains entering until the circumstances were clear. It is pretty much common railway practise, for obvious reasons, that the signallers are in charge of the railway. Why they just let them go on running in, into they knew not what, I guess we shall find out in due course. Barmy!They are also supposed to have a rehearsed and practised evacuation procedure. That no-one got it off the shelf, blew away the dust, and started to implement it is also totally inexplicable. I am truly astounded that so many people can have spent so long in the tunnel in appalling conditions, and that so many others, whose jobs it was to get them out, seemed to have done so little to secure this objective. Add to that that the French Chairman was supposedly carpeted by Sarcozy, while the British MD merely expressed his sorrow that so many people were "inconvenienced". Inconvenienced!!! No one in authority in this country has the slightest idea of why they get big fat salaries. It is so that they take responsibility when necessary. It is inconvenient when you drop an egg, it is rather more serious when over 1,000 people are trapped miles into an undersea tunnel. Ye gods! Rant. Rant. Rant. Rant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 Calm down Brian ... it's only a tunnel! :-> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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