Covid-19: SNCF forced to cancel regional trains

Affected by the 5th wave of Covid-19, the SNCF must cancel regional trains but the phenomenon remains for the moment “local and marginal”, said Thursday, December 23 a spokesperson for SNCF Voyageurs. “Like any employer, we are confronted at the scale of the SNCF group (SNCF Voyageurs, SNCF Réseau, SNCF Gares & Connexion) with the effects of this 5th Covid wave, neither more nor less than the rest of the company”, explained the AFP spokesperson.

“The evolution of the health situation (increase in Covid cases and contact cases) may lead to local adaptations of some of our transport plans”, either because the railway workers are unavailable, or because of “less frequentation travelers, for example, because of teleworking, ”he added. “The adaptations of transport plans that we may encounter due to the Covid only relate to regional trains,” said the spokesperson, noting that the phenomenon was for the moment “local and marginal”.

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In Occitania in particular, the SNCF canceled all trains until January on the Perpignan-Villefranche (Pyrénées-Orientales), Carcassonne-Quillan (Aude) and Nîmes-Le Grau du Roi (Gard) lines. Trains are canceled on other lines such as between Mende and Marjevols (Lozère), Lyon and Grenoble, Bordeaux and Sarlat (Dordogne), Nancy and Longwy (Meurthe-et-Moselle), Evreux and Mantes (Yvelines) or on internal links to Normandy.

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Passengers are invited to check the timetables on the TER website for their region or on the SNCF Assistant application. “For several weeks, the whole company has been preparing for this new wave and has strengthened its monitoring and adaptation system both in the management of its infrastructure and trains,” said the spokesperson.