TGV traffic, which was at a standstill in part of France on Wednesday after violent storms and trees falling on the tracks, will return to normal on Thursday. TGV trains connecting Paris to Lausanne and Geneva have been cancelled.
Interrupted around 7:40 a.m. on the Paris-Lyon high-speed line, “traffic is resuming very gradually on the LGV Sud-Est because only one track is usable,” assured the SNCF in its latest update, at 5:00 p.m.
“On average, three out of four TGVs should be running” at the end of the day, according to the company, which promises a “normal resumption of traffic tomorrow”, Thursday, and in the meantime calls on passengers affected by train cancellations to postpone their journey. On the classic line, traffic resumed at 2 p.m. but remains “very disrupted and does not allow the circulation of additional trains”.
According to the SNCF, a “mini-tornado” in northern Burgundy has knocked down many trees on the tracks, both express and conventional, affecting power supplies and requiring major repair work. With some 80,000 passengers “impacted”. In the morning, the decision was taken to bring all trains back to the station, the public company said.
Switzerland not spared
Switzerland is not spared. The TGV trains linking Lausanne and Geneva to Paris are cancelled, the CFF has indicated, advising against travel to the French capital. Those between Zurich and Basel and Paris are being diverted and must expect delays, the former federal agency told the Keystone-ATS press agency.
The notice board at Lausanne station. [RTS – Nicolas Roulin]
The SBB is exchanging or refunding tickets for Wednesday, she said. Italian Trenitalia trains were also severely disrupted, with one of them delayed by more than five hours.
The problem was caused by “a tree that fell on the high-speed line, which was hit by a TGV going at full speed,” Séverine Lepère, deputy general manager for Ile-de-France at SNCF Réseau, told AFP.
“There are no injuries on board,” she added. The transfer to another train of the two immobilized trains carrying 350 passengers each (Lyon-Rennes and Lyon-Nantes) was carried out in the afternoon to the applause of the stranded passengers, according to images provided by the SNCF.
“Unfortunate coincidences”
The accident occurred in Yonne (between Paris and Dijon), not far from the Vergigny site where an attempted sabotage was foiled last week. The concerted sabotage carried out at the same time on three other major railway lines had caused a huge mess on the day of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, at a time when people were leaving for the summer holidays.
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Wednesday’s weather episode paralyzed LGV traffic on the Paris/Dijon/Lyon axis and disrupted rail links south of Lyon. In Paris, as in Lyon or Marseille, disoriented passengers tried to find emergency solutions in the face of delays and cancellations.
Very violent storms swept through the Yonne early Wednesday morning, with winds reaching 100 km/h. “These are definitely unfortunate coincidences, but that’s how it is,” reacted the Minister Delegate for Transport Patrice Vergriete during a visit to the Ile-de-France roads department, pointing out in the morning the “access difficulties” of agents on the disturbed sites
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