First Eurostar train leaves Paris after snow chaos

A cross-channel Eurostar train pulled out of the Gare du Nord station in Paris today, the first since the service was halted by snow at the weekend, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.

The morning 8.09 a.m. service left the station with about 1,000 passengers still queuing for later trains.

Eurostar, owned by the French and Belgian state railway firms and by Britain, cancelled all services for three days in a row after some 2,500 people were trapped on trains inside the Channel Tunnel for up to 16 hours on Saturday.

The operator has pledged to resume limited services today with priority given to passengers holding tickets from Saturday or Sunday.

Another train was due to leave London at 8.30 a.m.

Services are expected to be disrupted until Dec. 24 as backlogs are cleared on the service, which normally carries 40,000 people a day between Britain and continental Europe.