Eurostar to get back on track

Fallen power lines forced the cancellation of all Eurostar services on Friday

LONDON, England -- Services on the Eurostar rail network are expected to return to normal on Saturday afternoon after chaos following a power failure.

Trains started running on the lines between the UK and France at 6 a.m. local time on Saturday but five services -- four from the UK and one from France -- were cancelled, due to a shortage of trains.

Restrictions will apply where power lines collapsed on Friday.

A Eurostar spokeswoman said: "We should be back to normal this afternoon but a little word of caution that we still have the restrictions on that section of line, although we don't anticipate any significant delays.

"Trains started running at 6am but we will effectively have five cancellations.

"For people travelling this afternoon it is not such a problem but those with day trips planned at around 9-10am we are advising that they re-book for another weekend."

All services were suspended on Friday following the power failure, affecting some 10,000 passengers who had been due to travel between London and Paris or Brussels.

The power lines came down near the entrance to the Channel Tunnel at Dollands Moor in Folkestone, Kent, southern England.

Two trains already in the tunnel, one heading for Britain and the other for Paris, were turned back, and all other services cancelled for the rest of the day.