INFORMATION CONCERNING THE EVENTS OF 18 DECEMBER 2009 Our customer, Eurostar has been in an unprecedented crisis since 18 December and has attracted a great deal of media interest. Their service was suspended for several days and on Christmas Eve, only 37 trains, out of the normal 50 that would have been in service, were operational (24 trains on 23 December, 5 days after their breakdowns). Despite the fact that Eurotunnel is clearly not to blame for these failures, nor responsible for Eurostar's customer service, and that our teams intervened with speed and professionalism, above and beyond what is strictly required, we have been unfairly criticized for not having reacted correctly. Eurotunnel will not accept these accusations and, without wanting to become embroiled in an argument, we would like to present you with the facts relating to the rescue operations conducted by Eurotunnel overnight from 18-19 December: - Five Eurostar trains broke down, one after another, due to the snow and blocked the two railway tunnels; - To deal with this kind of incident, Eurotunnel has, according to the Concession Agreement, two breakdown units (one for each tunnel); - These were immediately deployed: (i) the first Eurostar broke down at 20:53 (CET) and was towed without incident to London, at the request of Eurostar, (ii) the second Eurostar broke down at 22:38 and the second rescue unit was sent to the site, but was blocked by the third Eurostar which broke down at 23:10; - The two other Eurostars in the Tunnel were instructed to transfer to the opposite tunnel, but they both broke down. One at 00:51 and the other at 00:55; - The second rescue unit completed its mission, towing Eurostars 9055 and 9059 to Fokestone; - Although they were in constant contact with our teams, it is apparent that the on board Eurostar crews did not relay any useful information to their passengers. This led to concerns on board Eurostar 9057 which led to us taking the decision to evacuate the passengers immediately into the service tunnel in order to maintain safety. It was also the case that this Eurostar could not be towed, as the protective cover over the front coupling on the train could not be opened. - In this unprecedented emergency event, Eurotunnel sent one of its own Shuttles which, clearly is not equipped as a passenger train, to complete the essential mission of rescuing those people. The time taken to complete this rescue were unfortunately protracted as the Eurostar crew, in total disregard of safety procedures, told the passengers to bring their luggage with them; - It was also decided to evacuate the last Eurostar to break down, despite a further complication linked to its position at an intersection between the two running tunnels (Cross-over), meaning that the service tunnel passes beneath the running tunnels, rather than being on the same level; - All of the people evacuated were repatriated to Folkestone where they were to be taken back into the care of Eurostar; - Kent police conducted a series of incomprehensible and interminable checks and controls. The two Eurostar trains sent from London to recover their rescued passengers arrived, very late, with no food or water on board and with no crew. Several of the crew members of the evacuated Eurostars were at this time complaining that they needed to be relieved. All of this caused further delay, again beyond our control, but nonetheless unacceptable and therefore the source of lively protest; - The Eurotunnel staff who were at this time managing our own customers, who were themselves trapped on the terminal due to the tunnels being occupied by broken down Eurostars (several thousand people) - our Shuttle Services being suspended until 05:30 - decided spontaneously to go to the assistance of the Eurostar passengers and did everything they could to make up for the major deficiencies those passengers were experiencing; In total, the passengers on board Eurostars 9057 and 9053 exited the Tunnel about 5 hours after their trains broke down, a very long time and something that we regret sincerely, but somewhat less than the 16-17 hours quoted by some commentators who have confused the journey through the Tunnel with the total journey time from station to station. Access to the Tunnel was refused to the last Eurostars in service. They passed the night at Frethun, instead of returning to Lille or Paris It remains just to underline that all the rescue operations were controlled, from 00:40 by the two states (under the BINAT agreement). As far as communication between the Eurotunnel Incident Control Centre and the trains, questioned erroneously by some, it was continuous: the proof is that if this had not been the case, the highly complicated rescue operations would not have been achieved in complete safety; From the morning following this crisis, Eurotunnel put to Eurostar a number of measures designed to improve the speed and comfort of evacuations: notably the provision, by Eurostar or its shareholders, of a third rescue unit and a passenger train to conduct evacuations under better conditions than in our car carrying shuttles. In parallel, Eurostar, in order to understand what happened, has appointed two experts, wrongly called an Independent Enquiry Commission (because they are not independent, nor are they an Enquiry Commission in the sense of the Concession because there is no reason at all why their mission should be uniquely focused on the Tunnel). Together, Eurotunnel and Eurostar have, over the past 15 years, become indispensable in linking the Continent and Great Britain. Eurotunnel will do all in its power to enable Eurostar to get over this crisis as soon as possible. Shareholder Information service 25/12//2009 | 
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