2023-11-04 11:25:38
The reopening of rail lines has been gradual since Friday in the regions most affected by the passage of storm Ciaran. The main axes were put back into service by the 4,000 SNCF agents mobilized for this storm, following clearing nearly 1,200 trees that had fallen on the tracks and carrying out some 300 interventions to repair the catenaries.
However, disruptions are expected to continue to clear the entire network in Normandy, Hauts-de-France, New Aquitaine and Brittany where the network has been very impacted. In addition, the SNCF is awaiting the re-supply of electricity by the Enedis teams, also in high demand, at a certain number of delivery points to restart the signaling.
In Brittany, traffic on the Rennes Morlaix section resumed at 5 a.m. this Saturday morning. They should resume on the Morlaix Brest section, from Sunday morning. Between Quimper and Lorient, the resumption is only planned for Sunday morning. As for the Brest Quimper section, where nearly 200 trees were found lying on the track, no recovery is planned this weekend. Same thing for the Guingamp Paimpol lines, in Côtes-d’Armor, and Guingamp-Carhaix, according to the Télégramme which advises travelers to reach, this Saturday, the terminal stations of Morlaix and Lorient.
In Normandie, the damage caused by the passage of the storm does not allow the circulation of trains on the following routes: Breaut-Fécamp, Caen-Lison-Granville-Rennes, Caen-Cherbourg or even Rouen-Amiens-Lille. Shuttle services are available.
Some TGVs disrupted
Concerning the TGVs for returning from vacation, the SNCF specified that they will run normally “except between Saint-Brieux-Brest, Lorient-Quimper, Nantes-Sables d’Olonne, Arras and beyond Lille as well as the first trains departing from Hendaye and Tarbes. According to SNCF, all customers concerned have been contacted and “free exchange and refund measures implemented”.
Friday morning on France 2, Clément Beaune, the Minister of Transport assured that vacation and weekend returns will be “ensured” by the SNCF. “There are a lot of reservations, particularly in the TGVs” with “a million and a half people who must return from vacation”, explained, adding: “There may however be some TGVs which will be delayed” or even “cancelled” in “cases, I hope, totally exceptional”.
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