Eurostar suspends services after unexploded Second World War bomb discovered
All trains in the Paris to London direction are cancelled until at least 12.09pm.
Eurostar has suspended services between London and Paris after the discovery of an unexploded Second World War bomb near tracks in the French capital.
Thousands of passengers are disrupted as the cross-Channel operator cancelled 10 services on Friday morning.
A large crowd of people who were booked on affected services gathered outside the check-in area at London St Pancras.
“We would have thought there would be more Eurostar staff, to be honest,” said Lauren Romeo-Smith, part of a group planning to travel for a weekend away to celebrate a birthday.
“We’re looking up flights, but our options are limited.”
French transport minister Philippe Tabarot told broadcaster Sud Radio that trains will be “strongly disrupted” throughout the day, with only a limited service resuming in the afternoon.
Eurostar 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”.
Fridays are one of the busiest days of the week for Eurostar, as many leisure travellers embark on international weekend breaks.
The bomb was discovered at around 4am.
A spokesperson for Eurostar said it was found during work on tracks in the St Denis area, north of central Paris.
This resulted in the suspension of all services to and from Gare du Nord, which is Eurostar’s station in Paris.
Services will only be permitted to resume once “mine clearance operations” by the French police are completed, the spokesperson added.
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.
Gare du Nord also connects Paris with other international destinations such as in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, as well as being used for domestic services.
It is considered the world’s busiest railway station outside of Japan.
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 added: “We invite travellers to postpone their trip.”
Eurostar is giving passengers whose trains have been cancelled the option of either requesting a refund or voucher for the value of their booking, or to re-book for travel on an alternative service.
Trains between London and Brussels are unaffected.
Five of the six flights that British Airways is operating from Heathrow to Paris Charles de Gaulle on Friday after midday are full.
A ticket for the one with spare seats, which departs at 6.20pm, is being sold for £264.
