Tens of thousands of passengers are stranded at either end of the London-Paris Eurostar link following the discovery of a wartime bomb at St-Denis, a few miles north of Gare du Nord in the French capital.
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 all its 32 trains on the link are cancelled, leaving 25,000 passengers out of position.
Read more: All London to Paris trains cancelled today after WWII bomb found near Gare du Nord station
When plans start unravelling for Eurostar passengers, they can go very wrong indeed.
These are your rights if your train has been cancelled.
Eurostar says ‘book on a different day’ – how easy will that be?
When services resume, passengers who are already booked on departures take precedence, with travellers whose trains were cancelled on Friday having to scrabble for any remaining seats over the weekend. The Independent has asked Eurostar if it will lay on extra services.
I need to travel today. What can I do?
Your options are extremely limited. There are dozens of flights between London and Paris – partly because Eurostar fares are so high between the capitals – but almost all appear sold out. You could book from a different UK city – Birmingham, for example – or to a different French city, such as Lyon, with the additional journey by train
If I find a flight, will Eurostar pay for it?
No. Eurostar only allows rebooking on its own services. It 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: alternative transport as soon as possible at the airline’s expense, plus meals and hotels as they wait.
But rail travellers’ rights are much weaker. You will get a refund of your original train ticket if you choose not to travel.
If you decide to fly, and can find a flight, travel insurance may provide some recompense.
I am stranded in Paris – will Eurostar provide a hotel and meals?
The rail firm is likely to reimburse passengers who are unable to travel as booked for the cost of accommodation while they wait – but in the past Eurostar has capped the amount that can be claimed at £150 per night.
The same is likely to apply to stranded travellers from St Pancras to Paris who do not live in or around the London area and plan to travel in the next day or two.
I’ve got accommodation booked in Paris that I can’t cancel …
It may be that, given the scale of the chaos, some accommodation providers will allow a postponement. But otherwise travel insurance is your only hope.
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