Passengers will have to be patient. The entire high-speed line between Paris and eastern France is without power due to a catenary break at Châlons-en-Champagne, causing numerous delays for trains usually using this line , indicated the SNCF this Friday.
According to the SNCF Gares & Connexions website, most trains heading to Paris were up to 4 hours late, and even 6 hours for two of them, coming from Luxembourg and Munich. In the direction of departures from Paris, many trains showed delays of between 1h30 and 3 hours. Several have planned not to go to their initial terminus like the Paris Stuttgart at 1:51 p.m. which will finally stop in Strasbourg.
The SNCF Connect site ensures that the railway company’s teams have been mobilized “on site to carry out the necessary repairs”. At the end of the day, SNCF Réseau announced that traffic would be restored by 7:30 p.m.
“Traffic will remain disrupted tomorrow” Saturday, warned SNCF Réseau, specifying that “additional work will take place during the day tomorrow Saturday or the day after tomorrow” Sunday.
“Meal boxes” distributed
In the meantime, trains ran during the day using the slower, traditional routes, causing major delays between Strasbourg, Nancy/Metz, Reims and Paris.
The catenary break occurred “a little before noon” and a restoration of power on the line is expected “during the afternoon”, the railway company said. “Meal boxes” were distributed to affected travelers, she also indicated. “Our customers are informed, the information sites are updated in real time, and the displays are as well,” she assured.
“I was early for once and now I’ve been waiting for 3 hours,” said Adeline at the Gare de l’Est in Paris, waiting for her train to Nancy, initially scheduled for 1:58 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,” he said. -she confided to AFP, while keeping a smile.
“The whole evening will be impacted,” warned an SNCF agent, informing a few travelers, standing in the hall with their eyes glued to the information screens or their mobile phones. Agents in red vests tried as best they could to inform the hundred or so passengers present.
“We were advised to wait for the delayed train” rather than take an alternative train, said Rene, a 23-year-old German who is looking to reach Stuttgart with his fiancée. “A friend of mine is celebrating his birthday tonight, and we clearly not going to make it to the party on time,” he lamented.
The timing is far from ideal: this break in the cables allowing the electricity supply to the trains occurs the day before a weekend, in the middle of the school holidays for the Nancy Metz, Reims and Strasbourg academies area. On the other hand, the circulation of TER was not affected, SNCF indicated to the local press.