It would be a claustrophobic’s worst nightmare—trapped subsea in the 31-mile Eurotunnel beneath the English Channel on the Eurostar train that travels between Britain and the European mainland. A series of breakdowns on five London-bound trains from Brussels, which began December 18, 2009, left more than 2,000 passengers stranded for up to 16 hours. Many of those passengers trapped in the dark and overheated tunnel endured serious distress. “Parents had to remove their children’s clothes, leaving them in underwear and diapers.

Some passengers suffered stress and panic attacks. Others started feeling ill due to the heat.” Was this just an unfortunate incident for the unlucky passengers who happened to be on those trains or did poor managerial decision making about the operation of both the train and the channel tunnel also play a role?

An independent review of the incident blamed Eurostar and the operator of the tunnel for being unprepared for severe winter weather. The report said that Eurostar had failed to adequately maintain and winterize its high-speed trains to protect sensitive components from malfunctioning due to excessive snow and moisture buildup. At the time of the Eurostar train breakdowns, severe winter weather had been wreaking havoc on Europe. Airlines, car and truck drivers, and other rail operators across Europe were also suffering from a winter that was on course to be the coldest in more than 30 years. Freezing weather and snow had caused travel problems for days in Northern Europe. In addition, the report criticized Eurotunnel (the operator of the channel tunnel) for having unsatisfactory communications systems in place inside the tunnel, which could have given its employees direct contact with train drivers and other Eurostar staff. “If a train breaks down and passengers have to be rescued and evacuated, this must be done with greater speed and consideration. In an emergency, passengers need to have prompt information and regular updates.”

Although the severe weather conditions undoubtedly played a role in this fiasco, there’s no doubt that managers could have done a better job of making decisions in preparing for such scenarios.

Discussion Questions

1. What’s your reaction to this story? What does it illustrate about decision making?

2. How could the decision-making process have helped in both the response to the crisis situation and in preventing it from happening?

3. Could procedures, policies, and rules play any role in future crisis situations like this one? If so, how? If not, why not?

4. What could other organizations learn from this incident?