Passengers wait for their late train at Strasbourg station, in Bas-Rhin, on April 26, 2024 (AFP/Abdesslam MIRDASS)
Chaotic delays on the eve of the weekend: traffic on the high-speed line between Paris, eastern France and Germany was largely disrupted on Friday due to a catenary break, forcing trains to take a slower route.
The incident occurred “a little before noon” near Châlons-en-Champagne (Marne), and, after interventions by teams on site, traffic resumed on this route around 7:30 p.m., said SNCF Network.
Throughout the afternoon, TGVs operating between Strasbourg, Nancy/Metz, Reims and Paris had to be diverted to the conventional route, causing delays in both directions.
According to the departures table at the Paris-Est SNCF station, trains heading to Paris were up to 6 hours late for four of them, coming from Strasbourg, Luxembourg, Munich and Frankfurt. In the direction of departures from Paris, many trains were up to 5 hours late.
Several have planned not to go to their initial terminus like the Paris-Stuttgart at 1:51 p.m. which left 5 hours late and which will finally stop in Strasbourg.
SNCF Réseau has already warned on Friday evening that traffic would remain “disrupted tomorrow” on Saturday, specifying that “additional work” would still take place “Saturday or Sunday”.
– “Not on time for the party” –
This break in the cables allowing the electricity supply to the trains occurred the day before a weekend, in the middle of the school holidays for the academies zone of Nancy-Metz, Reims and Strasbourg.
Chaotic delays on the eve of the weekend: traffic on the entire high-speed line between Paris and the East of France is interrupted due to a catenary break (AFP/Archives/Ian LANGSDON)
“I was early for once, and now I’ve been waiting for three hours,” said Adeline Genay at Gare de l’Est in Paris, waiting for her train to Nancy, initially scheduled for 1:58 p.m. The latter ended up leaving at 5:27 p.m. but for a journey time of more than 3 hours due to the obligation to use the classic line. Ultimately, an arrival at destination planned for 8:40 p.m., instead of 3:44 p.m.
“There are children at home, it’s the nanny behind who won’t be able to stay (…) she has constraints, she has to leave so we have to find a plan B, get organized”, a- she told AFP, while still smiling.
“The whole evening will be impacted,” warns an SNCF agent, informing a few travelers, standing in the hall with their eyes glued to the information screens or their cell phones. Agents in red vests try as best they can to inform the hundred or so passengers present.
“We were advised to wait for the delayed train” rather than take an alternative train, explained Rene Hegel, a 23-year-old German trying to reach Stuttgart.
“A friend is celebrating his birthday tonight, and we’re clearly not going to make it to the party on time,” he lamented.
– Lack of information –
At Metz station, where delays were up to three hours, travelers mainly grumbled about a lack of information. “I think I’m going to explode,” says a woman on the phone.
A sign indicating train times at Strasbourg station, April 26, 2024 (AFP/Archives/Abdesslam MIRDASS)
“We will have more than five hours of travel. We understand the situation but not that we are not given information: five different controllers gave us five different pieces of information,” complains Marie-Christine to a journalist from the AFP.
“I would have done better to take the car. With the means available today, sending an SMS to people would not be complicated,” lamented Martine Ludmann, leaving with her grandson for Paris where she’s supposed to take a plane on Saturday.
© 2024 AFP
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