Eurostar trains between Paris and London have been cancelled after a second world war bomb was found on the tracks near 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 had been cleared by bomb disposal experts.
All Eurostar trains to Paris have been suspended until at least noon Paris time, the operator said, as have regional and national services that use Gare du Nord. Twelve Eurostar trains had been cancelled by 10am Paris time.
SNCF, France’s national rail operator, said regional services would not resume until mid-afternoon, pending approval from authorities.
Fabien Villedieu, an SNCF union leader, said on X that the 300 kilogramme bomb was discovered during overnight 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 wait to try to reschedule their journeys.
“I just spent more time getting from Charles de Gaulle [airport] to Gare du Nord than from Florence to Paris,” one X user posted.
The cancellations come at a particularly busy time for Eurostar, as people head to Paris for fashion week, and people 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 currently 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.