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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jun/24/calais-chaos-eurostar-eurotunnel-ferry-services-return-to-normal
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| Calais: Eurostar, Eurotunnel and ferry services return to normal | Calais: Eurostar, Eurotunnel and ferry services return to normal |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Cross-Channel ferry and train services were returning to normal after a wildcat strike at Calais by French ferry workers brought chaos for passengers travelling between the UK and France. | |
| There were long queues for the Eurostar at St Pancras on Wednesday morning but the first trains left on time. Eurostar was returning to a “full and normal service”, although customers were advised to allow at least 45 minutes to check in, while P&O Ferries said its Dover to Calais crossings were fully operational with spaces available. | There were long queues for the Eurostar at St Pancras on Wednesday morning but the first trains left on time. Eurostar was returning to a “full and normal service”, although customers were advised to allow at least 45 minutes to check in, while P&O Ferries said its Dover to Calais crossings were fully operational with spaces available. |
| In Calais, migrants hoping to reach the UK continued to try and break into slow-moving lorries on gridlocked roads. | |
| The Eurostar website confirmed the first train of the day from Paris to London left as scheduled at 7.10am (05.10 GMT). The first train from London to Paris also departed on time. Eurotunnel said its passenger service was running to schedule on both terminals with no waiting time. | The Eurostar website confirmed the first train of the day from Paris to London left as scheduled at 7.10am (05.10 GMT). The first train from London to Paris also departed on time. Eurotunnel said its passenger service was running to schedule on both terminals with no waiting time. |
| Some passengers spent the night at St Pancras station in London after their trains were cancelled. Vanessa Magdelyns, 33, from Brussels, said she and “at least 50” people spent the night at the station. | Some passengers spent the night at St Pancras station in London after their trains were cancelled. Vanessa Magdelyns, 33, from Brussels, said she and “at least 50” people spent the night at the station. |
| “I lay down to rest but no sleeping. It was too cold. We didn’t get any blankets,” she said. “When they saw that we were staying here overnight they could have helped us.” | “I lay down to rest but no sleeping. It was too cold. We didn’t get any blankets,” she said. “When they saw that we were staying here overnight they could have helped us.” |
| She was due to get the 5pm train to Brussels on Tuesday but was booked on a service later on Wednesday. | She was due to get the 5pm train to Brussels on Tuesday but was booked on a service later on Wednesday. |
| Six members of the Loughborough Student Union Disney Society spent the night in St Pancras after the 2.04pm Paris-bound service on Tuesday turned around at Ashford station and brought them back to London. | Six members of the Loughborough Student Union Disney Society spent the night in St Pancras after the 2.04pm Paris-bound service on Tuesday turned around at Ashford station and brought them back to London. |
| The group of four women and two men, who spent a collective £430 on tickets, were on their way to Disneyland Paris for an end-of-year trip. Marisha West, 21, who is studying drama and co-founded the society, said the experience had been horrific. | |
| At 11pm on Tuesday, the group were told they were travelling 20 hours after their scheduled departure on the 10.15am service on Wednesday and were offered a free upgrade to first class. | At 11pm on Tuesday, the group were told they were travelling 20 hours after their scheduled departure on the 10.15am service on Wednesday and were offered a free upgrade to first class. |
| Eurostar offered to put them up in a hotel – but they were unable to find rooms and were forced to spend the night in the station on pieces of cardboard, clothes from their luggage and a single thermal blanket given to them by the rail operator. | Eurostar offered to put them up in a hotel – but they were unable to find rooms and were forced to spend the night in the station on pieces of cardboard, clothes from their luggage and a single thermal blanket given to them by the rail operator. |
| Many passengers had booked into nearby hotels after Tuesday’s cancellations. A group of Belgian students on a visit to London had been due to travel home. “It has been a very stressful 24 hours,” said their teacher as they queued for the first Eurostar on Wednesday morning. “We are just hoping that we are now on our way.” | Many passengers had booked into nearby hotels after Tuesday’s cancellations. A group of Belgian students on a visit to London had been due to travel home. “It has been a very stressful 24 hours,” said their teacher as they queued for the first Eurostar on Wednesday morning. “We are just hoping that we are now on our way.” |
| French ferry company MyFerryLink – whose workers were behind the impromptu industrial action – also said their crossings to Calais had returned to their normal timetable. | French ferry company MyFerryLink – whose workers were behind the impromptu industrial action – also said their crossings to Calais had returned to their normal timetable. |
| However, roads in Kent remained congested, with police saying they would continue with Operation Stack, which has turned the M20 motorway into a lorry park. | However, roads in Kent remained congested, with police saying they would continue with Operation Stack, which has turned the M20 motorway into a lorry park. |
| Travelling to @Port_of_Dover or @LeShuttle? @Kent_Police continue to manage #OpStack. #M20 closed J8 - J9 coastbound. http://t.co/0CYVamgIMU | Travelling to @Port_of_Dover or @LeShuttle? @Kent_Police continue to manage #OpStack. #M20 closed J8 - J9 coastbound. http://t.co/0CYVamgIMU |
| Nigel Jameson, a truck driver from Buckinghamshire, was one of those caught in the long queues for the EuroTunnel outside Calais. “We have not moved at all for the last hour and a quarter, I set off at 4am this morning from Antwerp and should be through by now but this looks pretty well set. I have no idea how long we are going to be here. We are not being told anything.” | Nigel Jameson, a truck driver from Buckinghamshire, was one of those caught in the long queues for the EuroTunnel outside Calais. “We have not moved at all for the last hour and a quarter, I set off at 4am this morning from Antwerp and should be through by now but this looks pretty well set. I have no idea how long we are going to be here. We are not being told anything.” |
| After all cross-Channel ferry services to Calais were cancelled, the ensuing chaos led to long tailbacks on both sides of the Channel on Tuesday. | |
| Travel chaos was subsiding on Wednesday but authorities in Calais continued to grapple with desperate migrants seeking to take advantage of the disruption. | |
| One group of young men - some as young as 15 - were chased away by a lorry driver as they tried to break in his truck. “This is terrible, worse than it’s ever been,” said the trucker from Poland as the queue inched forward. “It has been like this all night, it has been very difficult.” | |
| Another migrant managed to break the cord on the back of a nearby truck and was trying to clamber aboard before he was confronted by the French driver. Neither man wanted to talk. | |
| A 17-year-old Eritrean man sitting by the side of the motorway slip road said he and his friends had been up all night trying to get into lorries bound for the UK. “Many people have been trying but it is very difficult. We are very tired now.” | |
| James Brokenshire, the UK’s immigration minister, blamed the chaos on the “hugely regrettable” industrial action, saying it had acted as the trigger to the scenes that everyone was seeing on their televisions. | |
| He said the UK was deploying “additional resourcing into the port of Dover to enhance screenings and detections there so that we’re looking at this on both sides of the Channel”. | He said the UK was deploying “additional resourcing into the port of Dover to enhance screenings and detections there so that we’re looking at this on both sides of the Channel”. |
| Part of the £12m promised by the UK to help deal with the crisis last September has been used to tell people in the refugee camps that they will not automatically get benefits, housing and asylum if they come to the UK, Brokenshire said. | Part of the £12m promised by the UK to help deal with the crisis last September has been used to tell people in the refugee camps that they will not automatically get benefits, housing and asylum if they come to the UK, Brokenshire said. |
| However, he insisted that ultimate responsibility to guarantee security and safety at Calais lay with the French, as policing on their soil was a matter for them. | However, he insisted that ultimate responsibility to guarantee security and safety at Calais lay with the French, as policing on their soil was a matter for them. |
| There are more than 3,000 men, women and children living in squalid conditions in a large camp just outside Calais. Many of them have fled persecution and war in east Africa and the Middle East, and are trying to make their way to the UK. | There are more than 3,000 men, women and children living in squalid conditions in a large camp just outside Calais. Many of them have fled persecution and war in east Africa and the Middle East, and are trying to make their way to the UK. |
| Aid workers said last week conditions in the camp were worse than ever, with a lack of food and shelter. They said migrants were becoming increasingly desperate and were prepared to take ever greater risks to get the UK. | Aid workers said last week conditions in the camp were worse than ever, with a lack of food and shelter. They said migrants were becoming increasingly desperate and were prepared to take ever greater risks to get the UK. |
| Tuesday’s chaotic scenes were sparked by unannounced strike action by ferry workers, which began at 3.50am. Employees of MyFerryLink were protesting against plans to sell two of their ferries to rival firm DFDS. | Tuesday’s chaotic scenes were sparked by unannounced strike action by ferry workers, which began at 3.50am. Employees of MyFerryLink were protesting against plans to sell two of their ferries to rival firm DFDS. |
| Eurotunnel suspended its services for safety reasons after French port workers trespassed on its tracks. | Eurotunnel suspended its services for safety reasons after French port workers trespassed on its tracks. |