Thank you very much.
Haha, I wish thesis writing was a cathartic process! I'll be glad to get back into the rail industry in some ways, although I'll also miss the debate and research side of it too. As in life, you can't have everything.Studying is a cathartic process, and should be something you do for yourself, primarily. I’d do my law degree all over again, just for the arguing.
Quite common, and in fact timetabled for some services; done it myself on Eurostar once. Via Bat & Ball was a further variation. Various threads on here discussed it all and the reasons for it. Still used for expresses from Victoria to Kent sometimes.
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When I was living in Ladywell we quite often saw Eurostar stock passing over the park on that line.
It would be completely impractical to bus the passengers from Calais to the Ferry.
Why? Airlines have daily situations where flights are cancelled after check-in, and in some cases passed through immigration of the destination country even before they depart. They have straightforward procedures with the authorities on how to handle this. Why is Eurostar any different?
Probably because the ferry companies would not have taken them - two of three firms do not have the facilities to take foot passengers at all, and the third only small numbers.
Not 'your on your own' , by all accounts they were with several hundred passengers. At best you just have to wait until the problem is cleared; at worst you'll eventually be taken back to the starting point. None of the alternative suggestions so far in this thread have had any practicable merit.
Manned and ready to be moved to and arrive at any location within a short notice? Yeah, right.
Because for the airlines if their flight is cancelled the passengers are still within the airport but in this case the trains were not at the original point passengers had embarked and Calais Frethun has no facilities
Easyjet alone cancelled 50 flights at Gatwick yesterday due to the weather
The facilities have been mothballed, and therefore could not be reactivated at just an hour or two's notice.
On leaving Schengen - even though on an Eurostar you can technically still be in Schengen - one will have received their exit stamp, so to get off a train onto a bus in a controlled manner means any further checks (ie. at the port) would just require showing that stamp as long as officials know the reason.
It would theoretically be feasible with an escorted bus. But you'd need to have people securing the transfer site and somebody making sure the bus didn't get stopped/stowed away on between the station and the port. But given that you'd need to get the passengers actually onto the boat the simplest solution is to just send the bus all the way to Ashford rather than faff about with the foot passenger terminals. However this means bumping other coaches off and the bus now takes a very long time to make a return trip (although it can pick up a Eurostar load for the other direction I guess).
Put the bus/es on to the ferry? The only issue would be the driver/s would have to have working visas for the UK which I doubt could be done in that space of time! Otherwise they would have to use drivers who are already permitted to work in the UK (many coach drivers will be - I assume), the issue would be sourcing them at such short notice. So many bonuses from that B-word....
The UK is generally more concerned about the risk from Schengen.
The legal possibility may exist, but would the equipment still work, does the software need updating since the 2020 versions, and does the building still meet all the other relevant certification for passenger use? Opening a side gate and showing your passport to a rather bored PAF officer is perfectly feasible though.
Yes, but these mobile / 'on demand' border crossings are activated for known demand, not 800 passengers at an hours notice (and that is just one train - there may be several queued up). These are not going to suddenly be fired into action to mitigate a few hours delay to E* trains. The passengers will just stay in the trains until the problem is cleared.
Oh I'm fully with you. By far the best option is what happened - passengers stayed on the trains and ran through late when the line was reopened.
Hauled along HS1, yes. Why could, say, a 57 not take it all the way to St. P. in these sort of circumstances, or is it a signalling issue?
A 57 doesn't have TVM or KVB, both are needed for St Pancras. AIUI the only locos that could haul failed trains are the Eurotunnel diesel locos (Class 21 on TOPS) used for maintenance/special duties but there's not many of them and shuttling them on and off at stations would be operationally awkward.
