LONDON: From missed funerals to scrambled birthday plans, the travelers caught in the cancelation Friday of Paris-London trains were left bewildered and, in some cases, in tears.
Hundreds of passengers joined a snaking queue in London’s St. Pancras station to change their tickets, after a World War II bomb unearthed near tracks leading to Paris’s Gare du Nord station led to a halt in service.
Many were sitting alongside their suitcases or searching for alternative travel routes and accommodation, including Londoner Michelle Abeyie.
Friday was a rude start to her 40th birthday, which she had planned to celebrate with her friends on her first ever trip to the French capital.
“We were supposed to get on the 11:30 (GMT train) to Paris, we would’ve gone to the Louvre and the Moulin Rouge (cabaret) tonight,” Abeyie told AFP.
“We had all the tickets booked,” she said, wiping away a few tears. “I’m really upset, disappointed, frustrated, stressed.”
However, her group of friends was “determined” to follow through with the day’s plans.
They looked for alternative trains to the southeast coastal town of Dover, from where they planned to catch a ferry to Calais in France.
Eurostar canceled all cross-channel train services betweeen London and Paris on Friday after the bomb was discovered, urging passengers to change their journey “for a different date.”
The service offered affected travelers exchanges and refunds on their train tickets.
Friday is one of the busiest days of the week for the train route between the French and British capital, a Eurostar employee at the central London station told AFP.
Harrison Baker, a 28-year-old tourist from Australia was “shocked” when the loudspeakers at the station announced that the reason for cancelation was an unexploded shell.
Browsing for Airbnb rentals to stay an extra night in London, he admitted “it’s going to be expensive,” but was not disappointed.
“I’m happy because I get to stay here another day,” grinned Baker.
In another corner, actress and Londoner Marie was sobbing as she scrolled on her phone to look for alternative routes to Paris.
“I have a funeral to attend tomorrow,” said Marie, who did not wish to share her surname. “They’re doing everything they can, but it’s unfortunate“
“I can’t go at all (to Paris). The planes are too expensive,” Maria said, adding she would likely not make the journey.
“It’s been difficult for everybody,” said writer Henrietta Bredin, who was set to spend a month in Paris.
She was going to look for alternatives to her 1230 GMT Eurostar along with her co-traveler Mark Ormerod.
Ormerod, 67, said that the “information from the Eurostar has not been very good.”
When she heard the reason for the cancelation, Bredin said she “laughed.” “I couldn’t believe it... That doesn’t sound real, does it?“
“We’re very lucky that it’s unexploded,” Bredin joked.
“It’s a wonderful service,” added Ormerod. “We’d just like to get on it.”
Other Eurostar routes between London and Brussels or Amsterdam were running as normal.
Tears, ruined plans as WWII bomb halts Paris-London trains
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Tears, ruined plans as WWII bomb halts Paris-London trains
- Many were sitting alongside their suitcases or searching for alternative travel routes and accommodation
- Eurostar canceled all cross-channel train services betweeen London and Paris on Friday after the bomb was discovered, urging passengers to change their journey “for a different date“
UK upper house approves social media ban for under-16s
LONDON: Britain’s upper house of parliament voted Wednesday in favor of banning under?16s from using social media, raising pressure on the government to match a similar ban passed in Australia.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday he was not ruling out any options and pledged action to protect children, but his government wants to wait for the results of a consultation due this summer before legislating.
Calls have risen across the opposition and within the governing Labour party for the UK to follow Australia, where under-16s have been barred from social media applications since December 10.
The amendment from opposition Conservative lawmaker John Nash passed with 261 votes to 150 in the House of Lords, co?sponsored by a Labour and a Liberal Democrat peer.
“Tonight, peers put our children’s future first,” Nash said. “This vote begins the process of stopping the catastrophic harm that social media is inflicting on a generation.”
Before the vote, Downing Street said the government would not accept the amendment, which now goes to the Labour-controlled lower House of Commons. More than 60 Labour MPs have urged Starmer to back a ban.
Public figures including actor Hugh Grant urged the government to back the proposal, saying parents alone cannot counter social media harms.
Some child-protection groups warn a ban would create a false sense of security.
A YouGov poll in December found 74 percent of Britons supported a ban. The Online Safety Act requires secure age?verification for harmful content.
