(7 Mar 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
++AUDIO QUALITY AS INCOMING++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
London – 7 March 2025
1. St. Pancras International station interior, empty platforms in distance
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Muriel (no last name given), Eurostar passenger:
"We learned in the middle of the day that our train was cancelled and we don’t know what to do to return to France."
3. Wide of empty platforms
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Tony (no last name given), Eurostar passenger:
"We to be honest with you, I’ve had a long day because I got up before 6 o’clock this morning and got the train from Penzance (Cornwall) to Paddington (London) to catch the Eurostar. So I’ve had like six and half hours, seven hours on the train. Got the bus from Paddington which took an hour and I’ve been told that a lot of the systems that Eurostar are using have crashed. So these are, they did send an email saying the train, you know, about the WWII bomb, and they cancelled the trains. But the link, you couldn’t get through to it because it had all crashed, so really I’m just sitting here (thinking) what to do really, thinking what to do, you know."
4. Various of stationary train and empty platform
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Vicky (no last name given), Eurostar passenger:
"We were already on the train this morning and then we get, my partner got the notification first, basically, saying that the train is cancelled because of the (WWII) bomb, and we thought it was a joke, a bit of spam, or I don’t know, just, like no way, this is just, you couldn’t make it up, but then you start seeing the news and everything else, I phoned my friend (also going on the trip), we’re obviously absolutely gutted. We’ve met them, we went for a couple of drinks, we were trying to see if we could get a hotel for the evening in London and then get the early morning train, but basically the website’s completely crashed, everyone’s doing the same thing. So we just have no choice but you know, this is a disaster, let’s try again another time kind of thing."
6. Exterior shot of King’s Cross area in London
STORYLINE:
At Eurostar’s hub in London, St. Pancras International station, passengers scrambled for alternatives on Friday after the disposal operation of an unexploded World War II bomb caused transportation chaos in the French capital, including the suspension of high-speed train links with London and Brussels.
Almost 500 trains were canceled and the disruption affected around 600,000 people at the Gare du Nord, France’s busiest train station.
It wasn’t immediately clear how the bomb was made safe or disposed of.
Train services were scheduled to resume from 6 p.m. local time (1700 GMT) on Friday.
Rail services were halted, upending commuters’ workdays and travelers’ weekend getaway plans, as bomb-disposal experts worked to make the half-ton explosive device safe.
Some travelers at St. Pancras International had travelled for hours to arrive at the station and catch their train, from cities and towns around the UK.
"I got up before 6 o’clock this morning and got the train from Penzance (Cornwall) to Paddington (London) to catch the Eurostar. So I’ve had like six and half hours, seven hours on the train," one passenger, Tony, said.
Another said she was "absolutely gutted," to have holiday plans scuppered.
Both were unable to rebook another train due to the website crashing.
Eurostar, the operator of sleek high-speed trains through the Channel Tunnel that joins England with the European continent, said it expects normal traffic between Paris and Brussels and between Paris and London on Saturday.
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