Eurostar Paris bomb – latest: All trains cancelled after WWII bomb found near Gare du Nord station

The Independent’s travel correspondent Simon Calder reports:

The two unluckiest Paris weekenders have been caught up in the Eurostar chaos.

Joe and Laura Booth, from Hull, were supposed to be flying to Paris last month from their local Humberside airport for a birthday celebration for Laura. But their airline, KLM, wrongly denied them boarding – falsely claiming Laura’s passport had expired.

They rescheduled the trip – but booked on Eurostar from London because they did not trust the airline to get them to the French capital.

Joe Booth told The Independent: “It was chaotic at St Pancras this morning. We got checked in 4.45am, into departure lounge and didn’t hear a thing about a delay until 15 minutes before we were due to depart at 6.01. So we had to think on our feet – the queue for the information desk was outrageous.

“We checked online for the French public transport pages and it was suggesting lines would reopen at 9 or 10am French time.

“With this in mind, [we] took a punt and paid £600 for fresh tickets – the only ones we could find before this evening, in first class on the 9.31am Eurostar to Paris.

“The 9.31am has already been cancelled but we’ve moved the booking to the 12.31pm.

“We are currently in the first class lounge hoping and praying lines reopen this morning and we get there around 4pm French time.

“If the 12:31 is cancelled, then I think unfortunately it’s back home again. We’ve got too much luggage to fly really, well at least as cabin bags, we would have to check some into the hold.

“But with thousands of people in the same position, we have probably missed the boat now on a flight for today.

“We’ve booked and paid for a floating restaurant tonight as a treat given all the stress of last time. If we don’t get there before 5pm French time, we are probably going to lose that and been honest, anything after 5pm would render the trip pretty useless anyway.”

Fabien Villedieu, leader of the SUD rail union shared a picture of the unexploded bomb on social media, which he said weighed 300kg.

The bomb which has prompted chaos on the Eurostar was discovered at around 4am by workers doing earth-moving work near the Seine-Saint-Denis of northeast Paris.

Minesweepers were sent to the site, and their operation to guarantee the area is safe is still going on.

It isn’t uncommon for bombs left over from the World Wars to be discovered in France – but to find them in such a people-packed location is rare.

French transport minister Philippe Tabarot told broadcaster Sud Radio that local residents and people near the train stations should have “no fear” of a risk of explosion, stressing the procedures in place for defusing and removing such bombs.

Simon Calder, The Independent’s Travel Correspondent, tackles the consumer issues arising from the Eurostar closure.

The closure has happened on the busiest day of the week for Eurostar.

Besides large numbers of business passengers shuttling between London and Paris, Friday is the key day for leisure travellers heading for a weekend away.

Eurostar says: “You can exchange your ticket for free to travel at a different time or date in the same travel class.”

Were this affecting airlines, rather than trains, passengers would have a wide range of rights, including alternative transport as soon as possible, plus meals and hotels as they wait.

But rail travellers’ rights are much weaker.

Many passengers will have booked accommodation in Paris, which they may not be able to cancel. Travel insurance may provide some recompense.

Eurostar has cancelled all trains from London until at least mid-morning after the discovery of an unexploded Second World War bomb disrupted traffic at Paris’s busy Gare du Nord station.

“An unexploded bomb from the Second World War was discovered near the tracks,” French national railway company TER said.

The disruption is affecting both local metros and national and international trains.

Eurostar’s website shows that at least four trains scheduled to depart from Gare du Nord on Friday morning have been cancelled so far, while six trains departing Paris for London have also been cancelled.

Andy Gregory and Simon Calder report:

Travel correspondent Simon Calder with the latest:

The number of cancellations on Eurostar is rising swiftly.

The first four departures from London St Pancras International to Paris Gare du Nord have been cancelled, with the first train that is expected to run at 10.31am.

In the opposite directly, the first six trains are cancelled – with the first departure not expected to leave until the afternoon, as 12.09pm.

Friday is an extremely busy day for Eurostar, and later trains are heavily booked.

Passengers are being advised to book on later days.

The Gare du Nord is a major European transit hub, serving international destinations north of France as well as the main Paris airport and many regional commuters.

Bombs left over from World War I or World War II are regularly discovered around France but it is very rare to find them in such a people-packed location.

Eurostar has warned passengers to avoid using the service today after a Second World War bomb was found near the tracks in Paris.

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

The disruption was caused by “the discovery during the night of an unexploded bomb from the Second World War during work carried out upstream of Paris Gare du Nord,” SNCF management said.