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Post #1
5 EuroStar trains broke down in the middle of the Channel Tunnel yesterday, trapping almost 2,000 people for a total of nearly 18 hours.
The trains broke down after large clumps of ice fell from the bottom of the carriages, causing a technical fault, meaning the trains had no power, and couldn't move anywhere.
Holiday makers coming home from Euro Disney said they were treated like 'caged animals' as temperatures reached 40C and water was fast running out.
Many thought they had been hit by a bomb as a loud bang caused the power to go out and the trains to stop. "No one would tell us what was going on, we were banging on the driver's door but he was just in there crying" describes a grandmother who was on one of the trains with here 2 diabetic grandchildren.
Eye witnesses thought they would die as people were passing out as EuroStar staff were telling them to 'breathe less' as their wasn't 'enough oxygen for everyone'.
Rescue trains arrived after hours of waiting, however people were escaping the trains themselves, risking their life climbing over live wires.
"We had two toilets between 1,800 people. They wouldn't open the other toilet because there was no flushing water and it was seeping with excrement. We couldn't breathe and kids passed out. Ill never travel with EuroStar again."
James Haselden , 40, from Gravesened, said, "I've never met such a rude, *arrogant bunch of people as those French people running EuroStar. We were treated like animals."
Source: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-sto...5875-21909898/
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"Ok, we got a few problems here. If you think you dont need to breathe, do it".
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How about they be grateful that they got out alive instead?
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Sweet fucking jesus. I've been on that thing a couple of times before. I remember being mildly afraid of something like this happening.
:ohdear:
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And that's why I prefer bicycles
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Those fucking French! :argh:
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This isn't exactly their fault
Ok, they were real dicks about it but its not a reason to boycott them or anything
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Them being French is though.
:downsrim:
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Hahahaha, fuckin frogs.
But seriously, you'd think they would have a procedure for this that didn't involve leaving people to suffocate for 18 hours.
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Of course it's their fault, if they checked the weather and saw that it was going to snow this bad they should've made sure that it couldn't get in the electric systems.
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The passengers must be breatheless after that tiring experiance.
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Do you even know what the EuroStar crosses?
Yeah, it kinda goes under the English channel. You can't bike over that.
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"Ok the trains are broken, feel free to drink a lot of water and breathe in panic so we all can die as soon as possible"
Edited:
Google maps recommends swimming.
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No, but you can take a pickup truck.
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It wasn't even the companies fault. The trains broke down due to ice, and there wasn't enough air, so people were told to breath slower. They (the company) couldn't really do anything else until rescue arrived.
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Just don't take a camper-van.No, but you can take a pickup truck.
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Why did you change every instance of 'Eurostar' in the article to 'EuroStar'?
It's not called 'EuroStar'
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Or a triumph herald
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I don't think it really matters
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It does because you went through the whole article and changed the correct format to an incorrect format.
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I didn't copy and paste the article, I wrote it in my own words after reading it in the paper, I used that article as a source. I only copy and pasted the quotes at the end and I changed it in that because I didn't want to go through all of what I had written to change it all. I do apologise.
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that's stupid
you made grammatical errors and portrayed incorrect information
you really shouldve just copy&pasted
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Breathing less makes sense, people wouldn't run out of oxygen as fast.
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Duhh, doubt that anybody thought they just were into breathplay S/M
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I don't get it. Why would there be a lack of oxygen? It's a tunnel that's open at both ends.
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Maybe the AC wasn't working, it's a long and thin tunnel that is shaped a bit like U, so the heavier CO2 stays there better than oxygen?
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But then you'd feel lightheaded because you're breathing less
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I don't think it's about whether breathing less makes sense, or whose fault it was that the trains broke down because of ice.
I guess it's about the manner in which people were told to breathe less, and about how apparently nobody cared to apologize.
Maybe it was similar to how AirFrance personnel once treated my girlfriend and me at the Paris airport: Our flight from Munich (about 1000km) was an hour late, and the connecting flight was already waiting. So when the plane had landed, the stewards and stewardesses were literally shooing people off the plane, shouting "Allez allez allez!".
I mean, ok, they were in a hurry, and I do have a sheep for an avatar, but it's not like the passangers on that plane were a fucking sheep herd or something.
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Over the English Channel.
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The tunnel is over 20 miles long and underwater
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I think you've misunderstood the meaning of "underwater" in this case
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That's a great way to keep everyone calm.
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No, the thing is that in a 20 mile long tunnel, there won't be a lot of fresh air coming in. If you use up the oxygen in the middle, you'll suffocate unless you've got some means of circulation, or a real strong wind blowing in.
Try breathing through a 20 foot snorkel. The effect is similar. (actually, don't try it underwater. You might die. Seriously.)
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Way to handle that one, France
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That, strictly speaking, (from the photograph at least) isn't a Eurostar, but I get the point.
Uhh. The channel tunnel has a pretty impressive safety record. 15 years of service and no (Or so I think) deaths (There have been reports of fatalities of asylum seekers getting hit in the service tunnel, but those are pretty much conspiracy theories about UK government cover-ups.)
In theory, the eurotunnel employees were just talking crap. The ventilation systems in the tunnel (Consisting of two huge systems at each end) were running fine, and air was certainly circulating the tunnels, but the fact is the air conditioning and insulation on the trains was just too good. Opening the air-conditioning cocks (make a joke plx) would have given some natural ventilation, but that can only be done from the trackside, and none of the regular employees were trained.
Eurostars run at 186mph, weigh almost 800 tonnes, and have seats for 750 people. There are 31 to maintain and run, and the technology used isn't much different from TGVs of the 1970s. Maintaining a 400 metre train is no mean feat, and one electrical short can put the whole thing down.
It's not that massive a fault, but it's weird that they didn't send any rescue services in sooner.
ITT: The brits+frenchs that were trapped will probably live. And it's not like it was some huge case of negligence, it's a design fault made by a frenchman/englishman some 15-30 years ago (depending on when the underfloor equipment was designed)
Edited:
There are huge ass fans at each end of the tunnel for ventilation, and they were all running when it happened. "Breath less" wasn't really neccecary.
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Yeah actually, its every reason
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I know, a fault in the train, and they asked you to conserve air so it wouldn't get so damn uncomfortable there without even saying that "We're sorry"! That is so outrageous!
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It wouldn't have got that bad. I was on a Eurostar for 3 hours when the AC had failed. Sure it was sweaty and uncomfortable but it wasn't fatal. They would've been fine.
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Isn't that the Eurostar's car for vehicles? Just crowded with people because it was probably too hot inside the passenger cars.
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If it was moving forward that would've changed the air well enough...
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