Eurostar service at Gare du Nord in Paris is being disrupted today after an unexploded WWII bomb was found on the tracks just north of Paris.
Only basic information available at the time of my writing this.
Posted by
The Netherlands
1714 posts
The Eurostar website provides live updates and has an overview of the trains that are cancelled
https://www.eurostar.com/us-en/travel-info/travel-updates
Posted by
Lake District, England
8857 posts
Note that this is also affecting all SNCF domestic trains to and from Gare du Nord, with the live departure boards on line showing little or no service to all domestic destinations from the station.
UPDATE AT 0948- All London to Paris and Paris to Brussels and Amsterdam services are now cancelled for the whole day.
Exchange bookings for a different day, cancel for a voucher valid for 12 months or apply for a full refund.
Domestically SNCF hope to restore limited services mid afternoon. Check on their information systems.
You should be able to travel to Lille then a bus forward to Paris (if not booked full or local trains if they resume). Or buses from London tonight with Flixbus (if not already booked out) or ferries from Portsmouth to channel ports such as Cherbourg, Ouistreham/Caen or St Malo then train forward.
Doubtless air fares have soared in price for today, if still available.
Further BBC News Update- The 500kg bomb is now defused and made safe. Local train services (including the RER Line B to CDG Airport) are expected to start to resume from 1700 local time. They have been terminating short all day.
Two hundred local people were evacuated from their homes as a precautionary measure and hundreds of others asked to stay indoors.
RER Line D and Transilien Lines H and K have also been affected, besides longer distance domestic trains and Eurostar Red and Blue.
Posted by
Upstate NY, USA
941 posts
The past is never dead. It's not even past....
Posted by
Oxford, United Kingdom
5505 posts
Two additional services added for 8 March London-Paris & one for Paris-London.
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
15172 posts
Frank, thanks for posting. The historic impact is interesting and makes you wonder what else is buried near rail stations across Europe.
Posted by
Lake District, England
8857 posts
In this case the potential presence of the bomb was known, as the track gang had a bomb detection specialist with them and were proceeding with care.
If that had not been the case the outcome could potentially have been different.
Rail facilities across Europe and the UK were heavily bombed by both the Germans and the Allies throughout the war, as key infrastructure.
What was a bit unusual was the size of the bomb. The authorities were said to be trying to identify if it dated from before or after the fall of Paris in June 1940.