Eurostar has opened its second wave of Paris cancellations this morning. Trains between London and Paris are being removed from the timetable from Wednesday 18 June.

If you have a Eurostar booking to or from Paris between now and Wednesday, your train may already be cancelled. Check it now, before you leave home.

A third wave is already confirmed for 18 to 21 June. On that same Wednesday, ground staff at Charles de Gaulle, Orly and Le Bourget airports have also filed a separate strike notice.

What Is Actually Happening

All four major French rail unions filed a joint strike notice for 10 June. It was the first time CGT-Cheminots, Sud-Rail, Unsa-Ferroviaire and CFDT-Cheminots had acted together in 2026.

When all four unions walk out simultaneously, the reserve staff pool that SNCF normally uses to absorb disruption collapses. Normal capacity at Paris Gare du Nord cannot be restored overnight.

That recovery shortfall is the direct cause of this second wave. Eurostar depends entirely on SNCF Réseau for every train slot at Gare du Nord and has no alternative route into central Paris.

New problems have emerged today on top of the pre-announced cancellations. The Eurostar disruptions page is showing an IT fault at Paris border control, causing live delays across morning and afternoon services.

Train 9140 on the Belgian network has also been diverted following a train stopped on the line. Knock-on delays are building at Brussels-Midi/Zuid as a result.

The third wave from 18 to 21 June is attributed by Eurostar to technical issues on the network rather than the SNCF strike directly. It runs immediately back-to-back with this second window, with 18 June appearing in both cancellation notices simultaneously.

What Passengers Are Saying Right Now

Posts on r/Eurostar from the past fortnight reflect a consistent pattern. Passengers are dealing with second and third cancelled bookings in succession, often notified by email the evening before. The refund process has drawn repeated criticism.

One of the top-rated replies in a recent r/Eurostar cancellation thread clarified what many affected passengers are getting wrong about their options:

“You can ask for a cash refund instead of voucher. You won’t get compensation above what you paid, but you do have the right to money back to your original payment method.”

Comment from r/Eurostar
by u/holivier in r/Eurostar

A top-rated comment in a June 2026 cancellation thread highlights the refund gap many passengers miss: Eurostar’s default process steers affected passengers toward vouchers, but cash to the original payment method is available if you ask. View thread on Reddit

On X, the official Eurostar account confirmed the position for all passengers holding June 15 to 18 bookings:

Eurostar confirmed that all passengers on cancelled services can exchange their booking free of charge or request a full cash refund to their original payment method via Manage Booking.

Eurostar is contacting affected passengers by email but cautions that alerts can arrive late. Checking the disruptions page yourself before leaving home is the more reliable route for time-sensitive bookings. View on X

Analysts reporting live on 10 June explained exactly why the disruption extends so far beyond the single strike day:

Industry reporting on strike day identified that the scale of the four-union walkout would require multiple recovery windows rather than a single disruption day, making the second and third cancellation waves structurally predictable before Eurostar confirmed them.

The three-wave cancellation pattern covering 8-13, 15-18 and 18-21 June was forecast on strike day before Eurostar formally published the second and third windows. View article

What You Can Actually Do

If your Eurostar is on the 15 to 18 June cancellation list, act now rather than waiting for an email alert. The refund window closes at your scheduled departure time.

The quickest way to confirm your service and rebook or refund is directly through the Eurostar disruptions page and your Eurostar account online.

1. Go to eurostar.com/uk-en/travel-info/travel-updates and open the June 15-18 cancellation notice.
2. Check your specific train number against the list of cancelled services for your travel date.
3. Log in to your Eurostar account and select Manage Booking for the affected journey.
4. Choose a free exchange to a different date, or a full cash refund to your original payment method.
5. If you booked via Trainline, Rail Europe or another agent, use that platform to rebook or refund rather than going directly to Eurostar.
6. For any travel on 18 June that connects at CDG airport, factor the separate ground staff strike into any alternative plan before booking.

What You Are Owed

A cancelled Eurostar service entitles you to a full monetary refund of your ticket price. This applies to every fare type, including non-refundable bookings, because Eurostar cancelled the service rather than you choosing not to travel.

Cancellations caused by SNCF infrastructure constraints fall outside Eurostar’s direct control. Under Regulation 1371/2007 and its retained UK equivalent, no additional cash payment above the ticket price is required in those circumstances.

Incidental costs such as hotels booked in anticipation of travel, or alternative transport arranged after cancellation, are not automatically covered by Eurostar. These sit with your travel insurer as the first port of call.

• Cancelled train: full refund to original payment method, claimed via Manage Booking at eurostar.com before your scheduled departure time.
• Incidental costs: hotels, alternative transport and meals are not automatically covered by Eurostar; claim through travel insurance first.
• Separate SNCF rail services cancelled: claim directly with SNCF or via sncf-connect.com for any French domestic legs.
• Train runs but arrives 60 or more minutes late: Delay Repay of 25 per cent for delays of 60 to 119 minutes, or 50 per cent for 120 minutes and over, claimed at eurostar.com after travel.

Why This Keeps Happening

France had two national rail strikes in 2026. The January action involved just two unions and barely dented the timetable. June was categorically different in its scale and its aftermath.

All four major unions filed a joint notice for 10 June, the first time in 2026. The combined walkout sharply reduced the reserve staff pool that SNCF normally uses to absorb disruption and limited recovery to a fraction of the usual speed.

The unions cited a state of emergency on the French rail network. They pointed to rising workplace accidents, high sick leave, suicides linked to restructuring, and a management refusal to open meaningful pay negotiations. French consumer prices rose 2.2 per cent in April 2026 alone.

The structural problem for Eurostar passengers is that none of this resolves quickly. Eurostar cannot bypass Gare du Nord, has no alternative Paris terminal, and depends entirely on SNCF Réseau for the track slots it uses in France.

Two strikes, three cancellation windows and a CDG airport walkout within six weeks: the same pattern has repeated twice this year. Further action is expected if wage talks remain deadlocked through the summer travel season. The live status of all three cancellation windows is at eurostar.com/uk-en/travel-info/travel-updates, and any extension to the third wave will appear there first.

Do not rely on cancellation emails alone. Both Eurostar and SNCF send alerts to the booking address, but these can arrive late or go to spam. Check the disruptions page yourself today before you travel.