More than 1,300 Eurostar passengers stuck in the dark for NINE HOURS after power cut leaves them stranded on train from London to Brussels

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More than a thousand rail passengers were left stranded for up to eight hours aboard two Eurostar trains last night after a power cut in northern France.

Furious travellers said they were left in pitch darkness with no fresh air or flushing toilets after a power cable snapped above a section of track between Lille and Calais.

One train travelling from London to Brussels with 600 passengers on board was held up from 8pm until 4.40am at which point a diesel-powered train finally arrived to move it on.

Misery: Passengers aboard one of the stranded Eurostar trains are left in darkness following the power cut last night

Keeping their spirits up: Passengers seek refuge in the buffet car on the stranded Eurostar service between London and Brussels

Tired: Passengers queue for security checks at London St Pancras in the early hours of the morning following their nightmare journey

Exhausted passengers who had expected to be in Brussels at 9.05pm finally arrived at around 6.10am.

The second service between London and Paris which was carrying almost 700 passengers had been due to arrive at 9.17pm but only pulled in to Gare du Nord at around 3.15am after being left stranded for more than six hours.

A spokesman for Eurostar admitted the passengers would have been left in the dark while the trains were stranded as they are completely dependent on power from the overhead lines and carry no emergency back-up.

The beleagured passengers were handed out chocolate bars during their ordeal and were provided with taxis with some being put up at hotels when they finally arrived at their destinations. 

Later Eurostar services continued on Thursday night but trains were shunted onto low speed tracks meaning they were severely delayed.  

And the disruption continued with at least three services cancelled on Friday morning with others facing delays. Eurostar said they anticipate problems will continue into the afternoon.

Passengers took to Twitter to vent their anger with some posting pictures of their dark carriages. Many took refuge in the buffet car.

One, Chris Littlecott, posted: ‘Left Brussels 19:52. Now waiting to enter Channel Tunnel 01:52. I only made it on to train at last minute. Wish I had missed it.’

Frederik Van Hecke ‏tweeted: ‘We are waiting for a diesel train to come and pull. If that would take too long buses would be coming to evacuate.’ 

Olya Dyachuk referred to a long haul flight to the West Indies, writing that it took ‘almost nine hours to get to London. Ridiculous. I could have been on Antigua by now!  

Eurostar were forced to apologise for the chaos and have offered refunds and free return trips to passengers affected. 

A spokesman for the firm said they had been unable to let passengers off the trains for safety reasons until a replacement train had arrived to collect them.  

He said: 'Unfortunately a broken overhead power cable has resulted in two Eurostar trains becoming stuck outside Lille and we are arranging to collect the passengers with a diesel train.' 

Blackout: Another picture posted on Twitter shows one of the Eurostar carriages in almost total darkness following the power cut in northern France

Stranded: Two Eurostar trains carrying a total of around 1,300 passengers were left stranded in northern France last night after an overhead power cable snapped near Lille (file picture)

There have been a number of breakdowns on the cross-Channel service over the year, with the run up to Christmas 2009 being particularly disastrous.

In late September of that year overhead power line dropped on to a train arriving at St Pancras station in London, activating a circuit breaker and delaying 11 other trains.

Two days later power was lost on a section of line outside Lille, delaying passengers on two evening Eurostars.

Then, during heavy snow in December 2009, four trains broke down inside the Channel Tunnel after leaving France, affecting some 2,000 passengers.