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After power failure, passengers of the Channel Tunnel Rail face a second day of disruption
Train companies announced that services between Britain, continental Europe and Canada would resume on Tuesday but warned about further disruptions after technical problems suspended travel on Monday and left some passengers stranded on trains for the night. Chaos in rail services between London, Paris and Brussels, as well as Amsterdam, one of Europe's most busy international rail corridors, hit at the height of New Year travel. Eurostar, the company that runs passenger rail service, announced on Wednesday morning that services were resumed after "a power problem in the Channel Tunnel yesterday" and other issues with 'rail infrastructure overnight". It said: "We intend to run all our services today. However, due to knock-on effects there may be some delays and possibly last-minute cancellations." On Tuesday, a power failure forced the suspension of travel in?the 50 km (31 mile) tunnel. The UK network was hit by a technical issue in the evening, which made the situation worse for passengers. Some were trapped overnight in trains as some trains began to run. Eurostar 9152 arrived at Lille, in northern France, from London, at 0630 GMT, eleven hours later than expected. The trip usually takes 80 minutes. Herve, a passenger on the train, told BFM TV: "We are annoyed because we're tired and don't have hot drinks. It's a very unpleasant situation. A passenger named?Ghislain planque said, "People had accepted the situation." We could not do anything. Water was given to us. "We weren't abandoned completely." Eurostar was used by nearly 20 million passengers last year. Le Shuttle, a second rail service that transports passenger vehicles and trucks under the Channel Tunnel, also worked to minimize the impact of the shutdown after it had also suspended its operations on Tuesday. Getlink, the company that operates tunnel infrastructure and Le Shuttle service, said "the tunnel has recovered its maximum capacity."
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Drivers in Poland are stuck in tailbacks up to 20 km long due to heavy snowfall
Police reported that heavy snowfall caused a 20-kilometer (12.43-mile) tailback on an autobahn between Warsaw, the capital city of Poland, and Gdansk, a Baltic port town. The police report was made on Wednesday. According to the police, hundreds of people were trapped in their vehicles in freezing temperatures. However, the traffic was moving again by early Wednesday morning. Tomasz Marcowski, a police spokesperson in Olsztyn, said that the difficult situation started 'yesterday afternoon after 4 pm, when the first truck on the S7 route began to have difficulty approaching the slopes. This?led to an?overnight traffic jam that stretched approximately 20 kilometers." Stanislaw Bulkowiec, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, told a news conference that no one was injured as a result the traffic situation. Anna Karczewska is a spokesperson for the Ostroda police. She said that officers tried to assist drivers who were stuck. Ostroda is located on the highway, about 40 km west of Olsztyn. She said, "We did our best to help, and the Ostroda City Hall prepared hot tea and coffee for the drivers." State news? Agency PAP reported there were also some disruptions to rails and airports but that services are returning to normal.
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Eurostar announces the return of train services, but warns about delays and cancellations
Eurostar announced that it will resume all of its cross-Channel service on Wednesday, but warned that there could be delays and cancellations at the last minute after a power failure had suspended train trips throughout much of Tuesday. A fault in the overhead power supply caused a disruption on Tuesday that disrupted plans for thousands of passengers across 'London, Paris and Amsterdam during one of the busiest weeks of travel. On its website,?Eurostar announced on Wednesday that services had resumed following an electrical problem in the?Channel Tunnel yesterday as well as some additional?issues with rail equipment overnight. It said: "We intend to run all of our services today, but due to knock-on effects?there could still be some delays or last-minute cancellations." (Reporting and editing by Thomas Derpinghaus; Dominique Vidalon)
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Monorail train crash in India leaves over 100 injured
A district official reported that two monorail trains collided late on Tuesday at a hydropower plant being built in India’s?northern?state of Uttarakhand. At least 109 employees were injured. The official said that the majority of workers suffered minor injuries. Four workers suffered fractures. The trains collided in a 'tunnel' in Pipalkoti. This is the site of a upcoming 'hydropower project owned by Tehri Hydro Development Corp. (THDC) and NTPC Ltd. Gaurav Kumar, top?administrative official in the?area, said by phone that the accident happened on Tuesday night, after brakes of a monorail train failed. The trains were used to transport workers and construction materials. Kumar stated that the tracks were cleared and work on the project will resume on Wednesday. About?51 gigawatts (about 505 gigawatts) of India's installed power capacity is hydropower. Uttarakhand has more than 10 operational hydropower plants, each with a capacity of around 2.0 gigawatts. Reporting by Saurabh sharma; editing by Raju gopalakrishnan
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Three children among the four injured in Russian attack on Odesa
Regional authorities reported a drone attack by Russia on Ukraine's Odesa Region overnight. The drone caused damage to?residential structures and infrastructure, and injured four people, including three children. Odesa is a major Black Sea Port that has been repeatedly attacked by Russian drones and missiles over the past four years. Strikes have often?hitted energy, transport, and port infrastructure, as well as residential areas. Oleh Kiper said that drones had attacked the residential, logistic and energy infrastructure of?our region on the messaging app?Telegram. Serhiy lisak, head of Odesa’s military administration, told Telegram that four people, including a 7-month-old baby, two children and a man aged 42, were injured in Odesa, the?administrative?centre for the wider Odesa area. He claimed that drone debris, direct hits and window damage caused by high-rise apartment blocks. Lisak shared images of a smoke billowing from an apartment building with several windows showing flames and what appears to be the water jet of a firefighter aimed towards the facade. Could not independently verify reports. Russia did not immediately comment on the Odesa attacks. (Reporting and editing by Saad Saeed in Melbourne, Lidia Kelly from Melbourne)
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Air China buys 60 Airbus planes for $9.5 billion
Air China, China's largest carrier, announced on Tuesday that it and its subsidiary signed a "pact" with Airbus for the purchase of 60 A320NEO aircraft. The deal is worth approximately $9.5 billion in list prices. This announcement is just the latest of a series made by carriers in the second largest aviation market in the world, including Spring Airlines and Juneyao Airlines. Both plan to buy Airbus aircraft. Air China has informed the Shanghai Stock Exchange that it will deliver its planes in batches from 2028 to 2032. Airbus said that it was "very pleased" with Air China's decision to order additional aircraft of the A320 family. Li Hanming is an independent aviation analyst based in the United States. He said that this purchase was part of a framework agreement between China Aviation Supplies Holding Company and Airbus for 2022. This?deal covered about 132 A320 family aircraft and eight A350 Widebodies with a total value of around $17 billion. Li stated that "negotiations of individual contracts can take time." Airbus has gained an advantage due to the tensions between Beijing and Washington. (Reporting and editing by Clarence Fernandez; Brenda Goh and Sophie Yu contributed to this report).
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Ukraine drone attack damages port, gas pipeline in Tuapse, Russia says
The regional administration reported that a Ukrainian drone attacked the port infrastructure and a gas pipe in a residential area in Russia's Black Sea Port of Tuapse on Wednesday. No injuries were reported. The operational headquarters of Krasnodar Region said via the Telegram messaging application that emergency crews had been dispatched to repair damage. The port's dock had been damaged. A Telegram news channel with Russian security service sources said that a series of explosions were heard late Tuesday over Tuapse and residents in one area reported a fire. On?Telegram, several Ukrainian media outlets, including RBC-Ukraine, published photos that appeared to show a fire in the distance burning at night with a communication mast in the foreground. Ukraine did not immediately comment on the attack. Could not independently verify the report, or the extent to which the damage was caused. Tuapse, one of Russia's most important Black Sea outlets for oil, is anchored by Rosneft Tuapse's export oriented refinery. It has a capacity to process 240,000 barrels a day and provides products such as naphtha fuel oil, and diesel. The port and refinery were repeatedly targeted by Ukrainian drones during the war that Russia started nearly four years earlier. Previous strikes reportedly caused fires or disrupted operations. Reporting by Lidia Kelley in Melbourne, Editing by Chris Reese & Lincoln Feast.
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CSX train carrying toxic sulfur derailments near Kentucky-Tennessee border
Emergency officials?stated that a CSX derailment near the 'Kentucky/Tennessee border early on Tuesday caused 30 cars to 'fall off the tracks. One car was?carrying molten sulfur, which caught fire, and prompted a halt in the train until the toxic threat cleared. CSX, Todd County emergency officials, and the Kentucky Department of Transportation are still investigating what caused the derailment near rural 'Trenton, Kentucky. The town has about 350 residents, is located 60 miles north of Nashville in Tennessee. The accident happened around 7 a.m. Firefighters battled a fire from a rail car carrying liquid sulfur. This is commonly used in industrial applications such as fertilizer manufacturing. Officials said that it released toxic gasses in the smoke. Todd County Emergency Management said the fire was contained by noon. Officials confirmed that air quality testing has shown there is no threat to the public. There were no reported injuries. CSX shares fell just under 1% to $36.36.
Maguire: US coal binge allows Asia to leapfrog the West on clean energy push
In 2025, major Asian economies such as China, India and Japan, and Vietnam, had cleaned up their energy generation systems more than the United States or Europe. This would lead to a divergence of momentum in the East-West energy transition in 2026.
According to Ember's data, during the first 10 month of 2025 the United States was the only major market that increased the carbon intensity of its power generation in comparison to the previous year.
The U.S. power industry's emissions from fossil fuels have reached three-year-highs, with a 13% increase.
The CO2 emissions of European power companies have increased this year in comparison to 2024. China, India and Japan have also seen a decline year-to date.
As winter approaches in the Northern Hemisphere we can expect a higher generation of fossil fuels in Asia, Europe, and North America over the next few months. This will increase the carbon intensity in all major power systems.
The U.S. will likely continue to lead the pack when it comes to carbon emissions, as the power companies in the U.S. opt to increase output of coal plants over cleaner natural gas plants due to a sharp rise in natural gas prices in the U.S.
CARBON INTENSE GLIDE PATHS
Over the last five years, all major power systems have reduced the carbon intensity (or the amount of CO2 released per kilowatt-hour (KWh) produced of electricity).
Only China has been able to consistently reduce its intensity year-on-year since 2019. This is largely due to the world's leading deployment of clean energy sources, which have allowed utilities worldwide to reduce their fossil fuel dependence.
Ember data show that from January to October 2025, China’s carbon intensity in power production averaged 562 g/KWh. This compares to 670 g/KWh?in 2019.
Other major power systems also have seen at least an annual increase in carbon intensity. This is due to a combination of increasing power demand, patchy supplies of clean energy and policy changes.
Only the U.S. system, however, has seen an increase in CO2 emissions per KWh from January to October 2025. This is compared to the 381.2 grams in the same period in 2024.
Europe's carbon intensity has decreased by around 2% since 2024. India, Japan and Vietnam have also seen reductions.
COAL-HEAVY GROWTH
Asian economies are still far more dependent on coal than major power grids in Europe and North America.
As of this year, India has generated approximately 70% of its power from coal. China is at 55% coal, Vietnam is at 48% coal and Japan is at around 27% coal.
The U.S. coal power plant share is approximately 16%. In comparison, Europe generated less than 13% its electricity this year from coal-fired plants.
The U.S., however, is the only country to have seen a sharp increase in the share of coal in the overall power mix this year. This is why U.S. carbon intensities are out of sync with other regions.
In 2024, the coal share in U.S. electricity will be 14.6%. This means that there is an increase of 11% in the share of coal-fired power plants in utility electricity supply compared to last year.
Ember data indicates that coal plants were the main source of growth in electricity supplies in the U.S. during the period January-October. They accounted for 73% of total increases in electricity from January to October.
The coal share in all major power markets has been much lower, especially in India, where the extra coal-fired production accounted for just half of the increase in overall electricity supply.
Tracking Trends into 2026
The roughly 50% increase in natural gas prices averaged this year has led to a significant increase in coal-fired electricity generation in the U.S. As utilities continue to be under pressure, they are trying their best keep energy prices low for consumers.
The price of natural gas is expected to stay the same through winter, thanks to the record demand for LNG from exporters who are competing with utilities on the U.S. market.
The outlook for continued strength in gas prices could keep coal-fired production levels high in the U.S. well into 2026 and ensure that the U.S. trend in carbon intensity keeps rising.
China and Europe have been suffering from economic hardships that have affected the overall industrial activity. This has impacted on demand for power in factories, chemical and steel plants, and other large consumers.
The carbon intensity of these markets will increase if economic activity improves in China and Europe.
The growth of the Chinese economy will boost economies throughout Asia. This could lead to a significant increase in carbon intensity for the power sector in Asia by 2026.
The U.S. will continue to be the leader in carbon intensity for 2025. This is a direct contradiction of the global trend towards cleaner energy networks.
These are the opinions of a columnist who writes for.
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(source: Reuters)