London Channel Tunnel
Idle high speed trains stand at St Pancras International Station in London Stefan Wermuth/Reuters

Channel Tunnel train services have partially resumed after being suspended for most part of the day on Saturday following a lorry fire.

Eurotunnel said the "Le Shuttle" train services resumed at about 02:45 GMT. But Eurostar, which operates passenger services from St Pancras in London to Paris and Brussels, said the operations will not restart until Sunday.

"Service resuming from the UK at 02:45 UK Time and from France at 04:30 CET. Twitter service updates to restart from 06:00 UK Time," Eurotunnel wrote on Twitter.

There will be widespread delays as only one tunnel will be functional.

The travel plans of thousands of passengers have been affected by the incident. The fire was detected on the French side of the tunnel after the CO2 detectors went off. No injuries were reported.

Authorities said a load on a lorry aboard a train was "smouldering".

"We expect to run a reduced timetable tomorrow. Sales are stopped to ensure priority for customers already booked," said Eurotunnel.

Passengers are also being offered rebooking, refunds, and accommodation.

A spokesperson for Eurostar said: "All passengers who are booked to travel tomorrow, Sunday 18 January, should check in as normal half an hour before departure."

"Eurostar services tomorrow are already very busy and availability is limited."

"If you were on a cancelled train today and need to travel urgently tomorrow, please call our contact centre on 03432 186 186 after 8am GMT tomorrow and we will try to re-book you on a service departing after 12pm GMT."

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