British holidaymakers endured a gruelling six-hour ordeal after their Eurostar service from Paris became stranded in northern France.
Train 9043, which left the French capital at 3.55pm on Wednesday, ground to a halt at Lille Europe station at around 5.51pm after a technical fault triggered by extreme temperatures.
The packed service had been due to take passengers back to London, but instead left them stranded deep into the evening.
Eurostar confirmed the soaring heat had caused the mechanical failure.
The incident came as a brutal early-summer heatwave battered Europe, with temperatures topping 40C across much of France and Paris placed on red alert.
Passengers were left stuck in sweltering carriages after the air conditioning failed, with operators refusing to let them onto the platform.
For five hours, travellers remained trapped onboard as engineers repeatedly tried to fix the fault, switching the train on and off.
The cooling system cut out intermittently, leaving passengers increasingly uncomfortable.
The packed Eurostar service had been due to take passengers back to London, but instead left them stranded deep into the evening
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Eurostar staff handed out bottled water under the company’s Solstice heatwave protocol, though passengers said supplies quickly became inadequate.
As the delay dragged on, travellers said they were given only water and Kit Kats, with staff telling them food supplies had run out.
One British passenger described the confusion after travellers realised they were stranded despite having already passed through border control.
He told The Sun: "They tried to fix it for a couple of hours. Then they told us they were sending a new train. They wouldn't let us off to stretch our legs."
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The incident came as a brutal early-summer heatwave battered Europe, with temperatures topping 40C across much of France
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The passenger said they could see a Westfield shopping centre nearby, but were not allowed to leave because officials insisted they were technically in transit.
"We're officially in Britain but stranded. We can't go back. We can't go forwards," he said.
By evening, even border control staff had left for the night, leaving passengers dependent on Eurostar personnel.
Eurostar arranged a replacement service, but the rescue operation was hit by a second failure when signalling equipment south of Lille also succumbed to the extreme heat.
Passengers finally resumed their journey at 10.52pm, reaching London St Pancras almost six hours late
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Passengers finally resumed their journey at 10.52pm, reaching London St Pancras almost six hours late.
The rail operator apologised, saying: "Eurostar teams, fully mobilised on site, assisted passengers throughout their journey and provided support."
The company confirmed all affected customers would receive full ticket refunds, as well as vouchers worth 150 per cent of their original fare.
Eurostar thanked passengers for their patience during what it described as "exceptional circumstances."
The operator had already cancelled several services to and from Britain this week, citing adverse weather caused by the heatwave.