Paris, Dec 22 - The three-day shutdown of the Eurostar rail service linking Paris and London ended early Tuesday as a train once again left the French capital for the Channel Tunnel and Britain.

Two of three scheduled Eurostars were to be operating from the French capital Tuesday. Service from London to Paris was also set to resume.

However, confusion reigned at the Gare du Nord train station in Paris early Tuesday as the first train prepared to leave.

Priority was given to travellers who had purchased tickets for the weekend, but ticket holders did not appear to be well informed about which queue was the correct one.

A young woman named Shula, who had a ticket for a Monday train to London, told Europe 1 radio that she had been at the station since 5.30 a. m.

"And I am determined to spend the entire day here if that means I will be able to leave," she said.

The nightmare began Saturday when four Eurostar trains broke down in the tunnel, trapping more than 2,000 people for up to 15 hours and shutting down the service.

Heavy snowfall and icy temperatures in northern France are thought to be responsible for the breakdown of the trains. Two more trains also experienced problems.

The weekend cancellations affected some 59,000 people, including many families with children, who would have used the trains in the busy final weekend before Christmas.

Eurostar said Monday that normal service would be restored after Christmas.  (dpa)