Eurostar halts London-Paris trains for rest of day after unexploded bomb found
Thousands of passengers will be affected as the operator was scheduled to run 16 trains in each direction on Friday.
Eurostar has suspended services between London and Paris for the rest of Friday 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 was scheduled to run 32 trains in either direction throughout the day.
A large crowd of people who were booked on affected services has gathered outside the check-in area at London St Pancras station.
“As a result, all Eurostar trains are cancelled to and from Paris today.”
Charlotte Liddell, a bride-to-be, was on the way to her own hen party from London St Pancras when her group discovered the cancellations.
Some others in the party are already in Paris, having flown from northern England.
Ms Liddell, from London, told the PA news agency: “It’s the hen do without the hen!”
She added: “We’re very upset, but it’s so out of our control.”
Fran Birch, one of Ms Liddell’s maids 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.”
“We’re looking up flights, but our options are limited.”
Ola Zyborowicz, 28, and Chris Gomes, 29, travelled from Ashford, Kent, to take the Eurostar to Paris for a long weekend away and to visit some friends.
Ms Zyborowicz said: “They said that the trains for today had been cancelled, which hadn’t been announced online yet.
“We were a bit like, why hadn’t you shared that information with everyone yet? It was an ‘if you know, you know’ basis.”
They said they have booked a new Eurostar ticket for Saturday.
“The app was horrendous trying to change the booking that we already have so we just booked it as brand new,” Ms Zyborowicz said.
“We’ll have to request a refund, which is a bit annoying. But we thought, rather than trying to waste any more holiday time, it’s better to just get on with it and hope for the best.”
Five of the six flights that British Airways is operating from Heathrow to Paris Charles de Gaulle on Friday after midday are full.
Ticket for the one with spare seats, which departs at 8.30pm, are being sold for £357.
All three of easyJet’s flights from Gatwick to Charles de Gaulle on Friday after midday are fully booked.
Ferry company P&O Ferries said it has added extra sailings for foot passengers on its Dover-Calais route on Friday.
French transport minister Philippe Tabarot told broadcaster Sud Radio that trains using Gare du Nord will be “strongly disrupted” throughout the day, with only a limited service resuming in the afternoon.
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.
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.
Trains between London and Brussels are unaffected.
