Eurostar has advised that it is not accepting any new passengers at its London St Pancras terminal today (Monday December 20), and is recommending that those who do not need to travel before Christmas postpone or cancel their journey. In a statement posted at 1255 the rail operator said:
"Due to the continuing bad weather, speed restrictions are in place on our high speed lines, adding up to two hours to journey times. As a result we can not operate as many trains as planned and trains are departing from our terminals as and when they become available from their inbound journey.
"If you hold a booking leaving London St Pancras today and are not already at the station, please do not travel to St Pancras as unfortunately we are not able to accept any more passengers for travel today. We will provide advice later this afternoon about travel tomorrow.
"If you hold a booking leaving Paris or Brussels, please check-in one hour before your service is due to depart and you will be put on the next available train.
"Our recommendation is that if you do not need to travel before Christmas, you postpone or cancel your journey. You will be eligible for a refund or to exchange your ticket for after Christmas in the next 60 days for travel in the next 90 days. Please contact your original point of sale within 60 days for a full refund of your unused tickets, or for a free exchange (subject to availability) onto a train on another date after Christmas.
"For bookings made over the telephone with the Eurostar contact centre, please call 08432 186 186. For bookings made on www.eurostar.com, please call 08448 224 777. The opening hours for our contact centre are 0800-1900 Monday to Friday, and 0900-1700 at the weekend or on bank holidays, though please bear in mind that the contact centre is currently very busy as well.
"We are sorry for the inconvenience we know this will cause."
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