Eurostar passengers warned not to travel today - after unexploded WW2 bomb discovered on tracks sparks chaos

7 March 2025, 07:26 | Updated: 7 March 2025, 11:16

Eurostar has suspended services between London and Paris 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 cancelled 10 services on Friday morning. All trains in the Paris to London direction are cancelled until at least 12.09pm.

Eurostar said in a statement: "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."

France's national train operator SNCF said in a statement that services at Gare du Nord would be suspended until mid-morning at the request of the police.

It added: "We invite travellers to postpone their trip."

Eurostar services to and from Brussels appear to be unaffected.

On their website, an alert reads: "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."

Eurostar said affected passengers can exchange their ticket for free to travel at a different time or date in the same travel class.

It added that it "sincerely apologises for the disruption and understands the inconvenience this may cause".

'Very upset'

Charlotte Liddell, a bride-to-be, was on the way to her own hen party when her group discovered the cancellations. Others in the party are already in Paris, having flown from northern England.

Ms Liddell, from London, will now fly from Leeds Bradford Airport and they hope to be in Paris this evening.

"It's the hen do without the hen!" she said.

"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."

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 tomorrow.

"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."