Eurostar trains between Paris and London suspended after WW2 bomb found near tracks

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Eurostar trains between Paris and London have been cancelled for the rest of the day after a second world war bomb was found near the tracks close to Paris Gare du Nord, the train operator said on Friday.

The bomb was found about 2.5km from the Parisian train hub in a northern suburb of the city, Eurostar said. Train services would only resume once the device was cleared by bomb disposal experts.

All Eurostar trains in and out of Paris on Friday have been cancelled, the operator said, while regional and national services that use Gare du Nord have also been disrupted. Other Eurostar services that do not pass through the French capital are operating normally.

SNCF, France’s national rail operator, said regional services would not resume until mid-afternoon on Friday, pending approval from authorities.

It said the 500kg bomb was discovered at about 3:30am local time during rail works in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of the French capital.

Videos posted on social media showed long lines at Gare du Nord as Eurostar passengers waited to reschedule journeys.

“I just spent more time getting from Charles de Gaulle [airport] to Gare du Nord than from Florence to Paris,” one user posted on X.

The cancellations come at a particularly busy time for Eurostar, as people head to Paris for fashion week, and others use the service to leave or return to the French capital for the weekend.

Eurostar merged with Thalys, a company serving France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, to form Eurostar Group in 2022. It is one of Europe’s biggest high-speed rail operators and is expanding its fleet to service “huge demand” for its services.

Chief executive Gwendoline Cazenave recently told the Financial Times that Eurostar was “definitely” considering opening new routes from London to Europe, in addition to its services between London, Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels.