A bomb of several decades was found this Friday, March 7 at Gare du Nord on Friday and led to a complete stop of rail traffic. The explosive device was defused on Friday and traffic resumed.
Rail traffic was stopped for a long part of the day this Friday, March 7 at the North Gare. The largest station in Europe has been the subject of an unusual bomb alert. Workers discovered the explosive device, several decades, on the night of Thursday to Friday, the SNCF announced. The bomb was “in the middle of the tracks” in the town of Saint-Denis, just 2.5 km from the quays of the Gare du Nord. The object measures more than a meter long according to the details ofHere Paris Île-de-France and weighs 500 kg, including 200 kg of explosive loads.
The bomb found on the tracks is none other than a machine dating from the Second World War and never exploded. A demining operation started at 6 a.m. on Friday, but it was not until 4 p.m. that the defense procedure was finalized. The duration of the intervention is explained by the implementation of substantial security measures, the long diagnosis necessary to study the bomb of half a ton, the preparation of the land and a complication linked to the discovery of a gas leak under the shell, according to the details of the Ministry of Transport in Franceinfo. Finally, the bomb could be defused at the place where it was discovered, two meters deep and in a hole dug for demining.
The SNCF, which had announced that traffic “could only resume after the end of the demining operations”, said in the middle of the afternoon to travelers that “the resumption of traffic n ‘[était] Not possible before the start of the evening “. Traffic gradually resumed around 6 p.m. 500 trains and 600,000 passengers were affected by disturbances.
The gradual recovery of traffic on Saturday
Traffic resumed Gare du Nord on Saturday morning. Apart from the closed lines for work, the trains circulate normally, we learn from a spokesperson for the SNCF, around 8 am this Saturday morning: “The traffic has taken up normally, everything is open, everything circulates normally.”
Eurostar trains also circulate “like a normal Saturday”, we learn from the Franco-British company. Two trains were added to the program of the day to transport travelers who saw their train canceled yesterday and who did not find a replacement solution.
Evacuations and closed roads
During the demining operation, a security perimeter was drawn up over a radius of one kilometer around the bomb. The Gare du Nord has been evacuated, as well as several buildings in the city of Saint-Denis in the secure area. Other buildings, including six schools and an EPHAD have been confined during the intervention. Road sections have also been closed as a precaution: the A1 motorway, between “La Porte de la Chapelle and La Brois on the A86”, and part of the Parisian ring road, “between Porte d’Aubervilliers and Porte de Clignancourt”.
The defusing of the bomb immediately allowed the lifting of the safety system, the reopening of the station and the return to the evacuated buildings. The A1 motorway and the Paris ring road have been reopened.
Details of disturbances
The discovery of the Bomb dating from the Second World War led to disturbances on all train lines passing through the Gare du Nord. No TGV circulated at the start or arrival of the Parisian station. It was the same for TERs. Some train starts have been redirected to Lyon station. On the side of the RERs and the Transilians, four lines were affected and affected by modifications:
- The RER B was cut between the Gare du Nord and Stade de France stations. Metro lines 13 or 14 could be joined between the plain and Paris and line 12 since the Front Populaire stop. For travelers going to CDG airport could use the Roissy Bus from the opera station without a price supplement thanks to an exemption.
- The RER D was cut between the Stations Gare du Nord and Stade de France and slowed down on the rest of the line.
- The Transilien H has seen his terminus postponed in custody of Saint-Denis
- The Transilien K was not going any further than Aulnay-sous-Bois station.
Regarding Eurostar trains, the railway company announced that not all trains from and to Paris were circulating this Friday. These are lines connecting Paris to London and Brussels. However, the Brussels-Marne La Vallée, London-Brussels and London-Amsterdam trains were normally circulating. The railway company, however, announced a return of traffic to normal on Saturday.