Eurostar trains to resume Saturday after WWII bomb defused in Paris

Travel to London and northern France was suspended after the authorities dealt with an explosive device near the track

Handout photo of queues of passengers at Gare du Nord after 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. Issue date: Friday March 7, 2025. PA Photo. See PA story RAIL Eurostar. Photo credit should read: Lee Bailey/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.Show less

Eurostar services between London and Paris are to operate from Saturday morning after a one-day outage following the discovery of an unexploded Second World War bomb in the French capital.

France’s transport minister said defusing operations were "finally over" late on Friday. Philippe Tabarot said the 500-kilogramme bomb "contained 200 kilogrammes of explosives".

All Eurostar trains heading to and from Paris, including the popular service to and from London through the Channel Tunnel would be stopped at the Gare du Nord, France's busiest terminal. “We invite travellers to postpone their trip,” the main operator said on its customer website.

It said the bomb was discovered in Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris. Regional rail network TER Hauts-de-France said it was found near the tracks.

Thousands of passengers have been affected as the cross-Channel operator cancelled 10 services on Friday morning. All trains in the Paris to London direction were cancelled until 12.09pm at the earliest.

Eurostar said: “Due to an object on the tracks near Paris Gare du Nord, we are expecting disruption to our services this morning. Please change your journey for a different date of travel.”

Trains standing idle at the Gare du Nord in Paris after services were suspended following the discovery of an unexploded bomb. AFP

The bomb was discovered about 4am by workers near the rail tracks, about 2.5km from the station. Explosives specialists were sent to the site and their operations are continuing.

Stranded travellers converged on London's St Pancras Station on Friday where there were stories of missed funerals to scrambled birthday plans. Travellers caught in the cancellation were left bewildered and, in some cases, in tears.

Lauren Romeo-Smith, part of a group at St Pancras on the way to a birthday weekend, said: "We're looking up flights but our options are limited."

Charlotte Kidd, who travelled to London from Bath on Thursday night to get to Disneyland Paris for her 30th birthday this weekend, said she was still hopeful of making it in time. "We've got two hours," she said. "If not, we'll try to get there some other way."

Emma Roe, part of a group of eight friends, said she was looking up flights to go "maybe to Amsterdam from Luton, just somewhere else". She added: "There's no booking until 6pm tonight. We're all parents, so we don't want to lose our free weekend."

Bombs left over from the First and Second World Wars are unearthed regularly around France but it is rare to find them in such a populated location.

Gare du Nord is a major European transit hub, serving international destinations north of France such as the EU capital Brussels and the Netherlands, as well as the main Paris airport and many regional destinations.

Brussels-Marne La Vallee, London-Brussels and London-Amsterdam trains were running normally on Friday, Eurostar said.

French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot told Sud Radio he hoped trains would start up again in the afternoon, though this was not guaranteed.

Friday is one of the busiest days of the week at Eurostar’s London hub, St Pancras Station, as thousands of people leave and arrive for weekend breaks.