07-03-2025
Eurostar - latest: All London to Paris trains cancelled today after WWII bomb found near Gare du Nord station
Eurostar has suspended all of its services between London and Paris on Friday after the discovery of an unexploded Second World War bomb near tracks in the French capital.
Thousands of passengers have had their travel disrupted with videos and images showing people stranded in Paris' Gare du Nord and London St Pancras.
The cross-Channel operator cancelled 12 services on Friday morning, before later announcing that all train journeys would be suspended, on a day which is typically extremely busy for Eurostar trains.
Services will only be permitted to resume once 'mine clearance operations' by the French police are completed, a Eurostar spokesperson said.
Bombs left over from the First and Second World Wars are regularly discovered in France, but it is rare for them to be found in such densely-populated areas.
Eurostar said in a statement: 'Due to an object on the tracks near Paris Gare du Nord, we are expecting disruption to our services this morning.
'Please change your journey for a different date of travel.'
France's national train operator SNCF said in a statement that services at Gare du Nord would be suspended until mid-morning at the request of the police.
'It's a bummer': American's first Europe trip left in tatters
Ella Brown and Charlie Spath had planned on spending the weekend in Paris but have now been forced to try and rebook their train.
Ella, 21, travelled from Orange County, California to visit her friend Charlie, also 21, on his year abroad at City University.
They planned to spend their weekend in France, but are now trying to rebook their Eurostar for tomorrow night.
'It will all work out, but it's a bummer,' Ms Brown said. 'I haven't been to Europe before.'
They looked at flights 'but it's almost more of a pain,' she said.
Alex Croft7 March 2025 12:08
This is an 'exceptional situation', says French transport minister
The French transport minister has said the discovery of a WWII bomb and the ensuing travel chaos is an 'exceptional situation'.
"The mine clearance is continuing," he said according to Le Parisien, adding that road traffic in the area 'could' start again from 4pm.
But its also possible that traffic will not reopen until the evening or even tomorrow morning.
"We are really in an exceptional situation," Mr Tabarot added.
Alex Croft7 March 2025 11:52
Watch: All trains cancelled after WWII bomb found near Paris Gare du Nord Station
Alex Croft7 March 2025 11:45
Alex Croft7 March 2025 11:23
Bride-to-be nearly misses out on hen party
Charlotte Liddell, a bride-to-be, was on the way to her own hen party when her group discovered the cancellations.
Others in the party are already in Paris, having flown from northern England.
The London resident will fly from Leeds Bradford Airport and hopes to be in Paris this evening.
'It's the hen do without the hen!' she said. 'We're very upset, but it's so out of our control.'
Fran Birch, who will be a maid of honour, said: 'We've got all the decorations with us.'
About the bomb, she joked: 'It's from World War Two. Just let it lie.'
Alex Croft7 March 2025 10:57
Eurostar cancellations: Your rights to a refund after WWII bomb discovered near Paris Gare du Nord
Tens of thousands of passengers are stranded at either end of the London - Paris Eurostar link following the discovery of a wartime bomb at St-Denis, a few miles north of Gare du Nord in the French capital.
The closure has happened on the busiest day of the week for Eurostar. Besides large numbers of business passengers shuttling between London and Paris, Friday is the key day for leisure travellers heading for a weekend away.
Eurostar says all its 32 trains on the link are cancelled, leaving 25,000 passengers out of position.
When plans start unravelling for Eurostar passengers, they can go very wrong indeed.
The Independent's travel correspondent Simon Calder reports:
Eurostar: Your rights after trains cancelled due to WWII bomb near Paris Gare du Nord
Consumer protection is not nearly so strong for rail travellers as airline passengers
Alex Croft7 March 2025 10:31
Passengers bemoan ruined holidays after Eurostar cancellations
Charlotte Kidd, who travelled to London from Bath last night to get to Disneyland Paris for her 30th birthday this weekend, said she was still hopeful of getting there in time.
She said: 'We've got two hours. If not, we'll try and get there some other way.'
Emma Roe, part of a group of eight friends, said they were looking up flights to go 'maybe to Amsterdam from Luton, just somewhere else'.
'There's no booking until 6pm tonight.
'We're all parents, so we don't want to lose our free weekend.'
Alex Croft7 March 2025 10:17
Eurostar full statement
After earlier cancelling a dozen trains, Eurostar has now cancelled all trains on Friday between London and Paris.
The train operator said in a statement: 'Due to the discovery last night of an unexploded bomb from the Second World War during work carried out on the tracks in St Denis (north of Paris), traffic has been completely halted to and from Gare du Nord.
'As a result, all Eurostar trains are cancelled to and from Paris today.'
Alex Croft7 March 2025 10:00
Watch: WWII bomb discovery halts all train traffic at Paris' Gare du Nord
Alex Croft7 March 2025 09:49
Breaking: All Eurostar services suspended for the rest of Friday
Eurostar has announced that all its services between London and Paris will be suspended throughout Friday after the bomb discovery.
The train operator had previously told passengers to expect disruption because of 'an object on the tracks', and advised them to 'change your journey for a different date of travel'.
Services will only be permitted to resume once 'mine clearance operations' by the French police are completed, the spokesperson added.
Alex Croft
