The police successfully defused the explosive device, which weighs more than 1,000 pounds and was found near tracks north of the French capital during landscaping work.

The discovery of an unexploded World War II-era bomb near the tracks severed Paris' high-speed rail links with London and Brussels on Friday, dashing travelers' weekend getaway plans and causing cascading disruptions to scores of other trains to and from France’s busiest railway station,

The cascade of transportation woes hit morning rush-hour train services before spreading to the road network, with Paris police closing the A1 highway that feeds into the north of the city, as well as sections of the capital’s always-busy ring road.