An unexploded bomb from World War II disrupted railway traffic to and from Paris’ busy Gare du Nord train station, officials said Friday.
The bomb was found “near the tracks” during overnight maintenance work in the suburb of Saint Denis, about 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) from the station, France’s SNCF national rail company said in a statement.
The Paris suburban rail company wrote on X that the explosive was from the WWII era.
Later in the day, Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot announced that the defusing operations were “finally over, they went well.”
He added that the bomb “contained 200 kilograms of explosives.”
Rail service from the Paris Gare du Nord station will gradually resume from 1700 GMT, the minister said.
Rail travel disrupted
The Gare du Nord station lies north of Paris and is the country’s busiest train terminal, hosting Eurostar trains as well as high-speed and local trains.
All train traffic to the station was halted as the local police worked to disable the explosive.
Tabarot warned that rail traffic at Gare du Nord would remain “heavily disrupted all day” on Friday.
Eurostar’s website said all Eurostar trains in Paris were canceled.
“Please change your journey for a different date of travel,” it advised travelers.
“Traffic is completely halted to and from Gare du Nord. As a result, all Eurostar trains are canceled to and from Paris today,” Eurostar said, amending an earlier statement that only the morning’s trains would be affected.
“Please change your journey for a different date of travel.”
Eurostar services from London to Brussels and London to Amsterdam, which do not go through Paris, were running normally, the company said.
An estimated 700,000 people commute via the Gard du Nord daily, according to France’s railway company.
Major Paris ring road also closed
Paris’ road network was also disrupted by the bomb find on Friday.
Sections of the the A1 highway were closed, along with parts of a busy ring-road around the French capital, as police worked to disarm the bomb.
Bombs left over from both world wars are regularly discovered around France, however, they are not normally found in thickly settled locations.
Edited by Sean Sinico