Eurostar chaos report calls for new evacuation plan in tunnel

Emergency evacuation plans for the Channel Tunnel must be urgently reviewed to prevent a repeat of the Christmas snow chaos which left thousands of passengers stranded for up to 20 hours.

The demand comes in a damning verdict of the independent inquiry into the breakdown of five UK-bound Eurostar trains which blames the train operator for having "no plan in place" to deal with the ensuing travel chaos.

Families with young children were forced to endure overflowing lavatories and cold and darkness for hours after snow and ice led to the breakdown of the trains on 18 and 19 December.

The report lays most of the blame with Eurostar, rather than tunnel operator Eurotunnel, particularly for not preparing trains properly for winter. It makes 21 urgent recommendations for improving safety and evacuation.

Conditions were so bad that on a rescue shuttle train sent by Eurotunnel, 650 passengers had to designate a carriage as an "open lavatory area".

Passengers said they did not see or receive any help from senior staff from either Eurostar or Eurotunnel. The first train to break down was the 18.59 from Brussels. The final passengers to be rescued did not reach their destinations until 14.50 the following day.

The Anglo-French report, headed by former GNER boss Christopher Garnett, says there are "serious concerns about the procedures in the tunnel for dealing with conditions that arise on Eurostar trains when they lose power and air-conditioning and lighting".

The 86-page report says:

■ Eurostar must redesign and improve its trains to ensure they do not break down in the event of bad weather;

■ Evacuation measures must be dramatically enhanced to enable passengers to be rescued "quickly and efficiently";

■ Communications, particularly by Eurostar, must be improved to tell passengers what is going on and provide them with food and drink quickly.The report said on-board staff should receive more training in how to deal with emergencies. Emma Powney, 30, recounted her ordeal on Facebook. She was stranded in the Channel Tunnel for hours with her partner Tom and children, Joshua, five, and Noah, two after a trip to Disneyland Paris. She said: "Kids have been stripped to their nappies and what water we had is being shared between them. A boy vomits everywhere. A lady gets hysterical."

The Disneyland Paris train, which departed Marne-la-Vallée at 7.37pm on 18 December with 664 passengers, came to a stop when a pantograph came down. The driver had not carried out correct procedures, states the inquiry, and the train lost air-conditioning, ventilation and light. The train did not get to Folkestone until 6.20pm the next day and some passengers did not get back to St Pancras until 11.53pm.

Eurostar said it fully accepted the report, saying the disruption was "unacceptable" and is spending more than £30 million to improve trains, passenger care and communication.