Vacationers wait as Eurostar trains to London and all trains heading to northern France have been dropped at a halt following the invention of an unexploded bomb courting again to World Battle II close to the tracks on Friday, March 7, 2025, on the Gare du Nord station in Paris.
Christophe Ena/AP
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Christophe Ena/AP
PARIS — Eurostar trains to and from London and different trains heading northward from Paris have been dropped at a halt Friday following the invention of an unexploded bomb courting again to World Battle II close to tracks serving the French capital’s busy Gare du Nord station.
France’s nationwide prepare operator SNCF mentioned in an announcement that visitors was stopped on the request of police.
French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot mentioned visitors could be ”strongly disrupted” all through the day with solely restricted service resuming within the afternoon, and urged vacationers to postpone their journeys.
The bomb was found round 4 a.m. by staff doing earth-moving work close to the tracks within the Seine-Saint-Denis area. Minesweepers have been despatched to the positioning and their operation remains to be happening. Stranded vacationers converged on the station because it opened Friday.
The Gare du Nord is a serious European transit hub, serving worldwide locations north of France such because the EU capital, Brussels, and the Netherlands, in addition to the primary Paris airport and plenty of regional locations.
Bombs left over from World Battle I or World Battle II are commonly found round France however it is rather uncommon to seek out them in such a people-packed location.
Tabarot, talking on broadcaster Sud Radio, mentioned native residents and other people close to the prepare stations ought to have “no fear” of a danger of explosion, stressing the procedures in place for defusing and eradicating such bombs.
Eurostar, which runs passenger trains via the Channel Tunnel between Britain and the continent, canceled all providers between London and Paris on Friday morning and suggested passengers to select one other day to journey.
Friday is likely one of the busiest days of the week at Eurostar’s London hub, St. Pancras Station, as 1000’s of individuals go away and arrive for weekend breaks.
Trains between London and Eurostar’s different main vacation spot, Brussels, have been unaffected.
