How far away were they from any available emergency exit?

It might be longer than that, these train breakdowns might not be related to any mechanical issues or electrical breakdowns due to condensation as speculated, it could well be down to a few lines of software code, such as software Integrator control limits being saturated for a temperature sensor somewhere, which causes an exception and shuts down the motor/switching power supply controller computer. It might be very very difficult to find out what might be causing these failures.

From the Mirror in the UK: "The company said last night that wintry conditions in northern France caused snow to build up underneath the trains. When the trains entered the hot tunnel the melted snow and condensation worked its way into the electrics and caused a fault. Modifications to fix the glitch are underway."

Several of the news articles indicate there was no water, food or lighting. And with the Chunnel being about 32 miles long, it could be a long walk, although I couldn't find anything that indicated how far into the tunnel the trains broke down.

As with most travel, I guess you need to take your own supplies no matter where or when you go, even if it is just a 3-hour trip.

In a tunnel. Under the ocean. It gives me the cold chills at the thought.

And thinking back on the thread about excessive numbers of flashlights... all of them would have been welcomed there!

Sue

Just read that some passengers were stuck for over 15 hours with no food or water. Thats enough time to fray some nerves.

I say travel well prepaired,, I don't trust the train, or plain companies to tend to my needs I expect me to be there for me and those with me. YES I over pack!!

I think that most of the population at large are aways expecting someone to tend to them and take care of there needs. Those of us here on this site think difrently, we see this news report and think, "how can I prevent that happening to me," or, "what would I have done in that situation," the average person who sees that thinks, "what a tragidy!"

I look at that as a reson to carry playing cards in my Man bag now so that I could at least play some card games with those around me and get to know people. Heck, you could make friends for life during that ordeal.

The problem seemed to be shortcircuits due to condensastion. The problems should be over now, and from tuesday the trains will run at 2/3 of their capacity

On NPR they had an account that implied that highly unusual weather in the area allowed very light and fluffy snow to blow into the electronics where it shorted things out when it melted. Such areas are usually ventilated to allow cooling but are typically protected by being under a deep overhang and protected by louvers that would stop rain and snow. At least your typical snow. Evidently the snow was so light, dry and fluffy that it blew in past the louvers.

I suspect that installing screens behind the louvers, to slow air movement so the air drops any precipitation, and adding a conformal coating to the electronics, to protect them from any moisture, might solve this problem. These things are pretty common strategies in a marine environment.

Adding such product improvements is pretty commonly necessary as complex machinery is exposed to different conditions. many of our most reliable devices have had rough development paths before all the kinks were worked out.

Plan B: http://www.steamlocomotive.com/cabforward/

Have to build a fanhouse, too, to ventilate...

Reminds me of the story of the Box cab electrics (I believe they were 1d-d1 class) back in the 1930s here in the US on the Northeast corridor. The blowing snow caused almost all of them to short out - mods were needed (somehow, I remember that the GG-1 was involved also)

I'm just hoping they had some bathroom facilities on the train. 14 hours is a long time to wait. It could get messy.

+1 on always travelling prepared. A small bag or pack with water, food and other items could have been really useful. Of course then you run into another recently discussed dilemma. Do you share with your fellow passengers?