(Updates with plans for Sunday) By Estelle Shirbon PARIS, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Train traffic resumed slowly on Saturday in the undersea Channel Tunnel linking Britain to continental Europe after a fire on Thursday completely halted services, causing chaos for thousands of travellers. Eurostar, which runs passenger trains through the tunnel, restarted operations early in the morning and said it would run 12 trains each way between London and Paris and six each way between London and Brussels by the end of Saturday. That represents just over half the usual traffic through the tunnel, normally used by 40,000 people every day. "Trains are operating through the single tunnel that is unaffected by the fire," Eurostar said in a statement, advising ticket holders to turn up at the scheduled time. It said it planned to run 10 return trips from London to Paris and five from London to Brussels on Sunday. It gave no details for the following days but said the schedule would continue to be severely disrupted. Eurostar warned passengers that waiting times before departure and journey times would be longer than normal. The trains usually take two hours and 15 minutes between London and Paris. A spokeswoman for French railway operator SNCF, which is responsible for Eurostar services on French territory, said trains to and from London had been one hour and 15 minutes late on average on Saturday. The fire in the 50-km (31-mile) tunnel was put out on Friday, almost 20 hours after it took hold 11 km from the French end on a train carrying vehicles, including trucks. No one was killed in the fire, which turned the northbound shaft into an inferno, with temperatures reaching 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,800 Fahrenheit). Repairs will take weeks. Officials have said the fire appeared to have started by accident but it was too early to identify the exact cause. Eurotunnel <GETP.PA>, which manages the rail link, said freight traffic resumed in the south tunnel just before 2300 GMT on Friday. "Having carried out a comprehensive technical inspection of the infrastructure in the south rail tunnel, and having sent empty test shuttles through, Eurotunnel announces that Channel Tunnel traffic resumes," the company said in a statement. "Eurotunnel's various rail services using the Channel Tunnel started to resume from 00:53 (French time), beginning with rail freight trains followed by Eurotunnel truck shuttles," it said. The halt in all rail traffic through the tunnel left thousands stranded on both sides. A lucky few were able to secure hotel rooms in London or Paris, but many spent uncomfortable nights in train stations. Opened in 1994, the Channel Tunnel is the longest undersea subway in the world. There have been two previous blazes in the tunnel, both involving lorries being transported on trains. A 1996 fire halted freight traffic for seven months. (Editing by Matthew Jones)
