Essex and Kent firefighters are working together to trace the cause of smoke in the Channel Tunnel rail link near Oliver Road, West Thurrock. Both services have committed crews in breathing apparatus into the tunnel after being alerted by a Eurostar train driver of an apparent track side fire.
Trains are believed to have been halted so there are no vehicles or casualties involved.
Kent crews have been committed from their end and Essex firefighters have entered up and down lines through the Essex portal.
At 20:08 hrs, the officer in charge reported that Essex firefighters had covered two cross over points and though there was a smell of smoke and haze, there are currently no apparent signs of fire.
No firefighting equipment has been taken into the tunnel – which serves the high speed rail link – because overhead lines are still live.
Further information will be provided as it becomes available. For information relating to train scheduling, please contact Eurostar directly.
Update 22:13 hrs: Essex incident commander Divisional Officer Bob Wahl has confirmed that the incident has been successfully resolved and crews have now left the scene. Trains are running normally again.
“It appears to have been a small electrical fault that caused the incident. This is the first incident crews have responded to since the railway went live and firefighters responded excellently in difficult conditions.
“It was extremely hot, they had to climb down three flights of stairs carrying breathing apparatus and hose and walk 3.6km in both directions to ensure all areas were checked for fire. Operations have now been handed back to Network Rail for train services to resume.
“Any response to the tunnel will always require a large amount of resources due to the potential seriousness of any incident in this environment. Tonight gave all services and agencies a chance to put their combined response plan into action and it went extremely well. Tonight’s experiences will put us all in a better positiion should a more serious incident ever occur.”
