Bomb alert temporarily halts trains at Calais station, causing Eurostar delays

A ​bomb alert temporarily disrupted ‌train services ​at Calais-Fréthun station in northern France on Thursday morning, affecting both domestic and international ‌rail travel.

Train services resumed later on Thursday morning after the gendarmerie authorised their restart, national rail operator SNCF said. The national gendarmerie ‌did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

International ‌high-speed rail operator Eurostar said some services between London and Paris had been affected by the disruption, as trains travelling on the route pass ⁠through Calais-Fréthun. ​The incident ⁠caused delays to services to and from London, the company said. Separately, three bomb ⁠threats were sent to three schools, all of which have been ​determined to be hoaxes, the education ministry said. It did ⁠not name the schools affected.

The alerts came amid a broader wave ⁠of ​bomb threats, hoaxes and hacks reported in France and other European countries in recent months, targeting flights, schools, supermarkets, ⁠air traffic controllers, blood banks and media organisations. It was not immediately ⁠clear whether ⁠Thursday's alerts were linked to any of the previous threats.