Power cut in Paris and Île-de-France: 230,000 homes affected and transport disrupted

A few minutes, sometimes just a few seconds without power, were enough to disrupt part of the transport network and computer systems in Île-de-France. This Wednesday, September 16, shortly before 10 a.m., part of Paris and the northern and western suburbs experienced a brief and sudden power cut. In question: “an incident linked to maintenance work on the RTE network”, explains to Figaro the manager of the public electricity transmission network in mainland France.

In total, “230,000 households” were affected in part of Hauts-de-Seine (92) and Val-d’Oise (95), as well as in three districts of Paris, according to RTE. Part of the transport networks operated by SNCF and RATP “was also impacted”. Among the lines concerned, metro line 13, the T2 tramway, but also several RER lines, whose traffic is particularly affected.

On the RER B, in particular, traffic is “heavily disrupted on the entire line following a power supply failure external to SNCF, which affects the entire northern network of the line,” indicates the line’s X account. “Delays, service changes and train cancellations are to be expected,” he adds. Same observation on the RER D, where “traffic is disrupted between Orry-la-Ville and Corbeil-Essonnes via Évry Courcouronnes and between Goussainville and Melun in both directions” of traffic. On this line, travelers must “plan for deletions, service modifications as well as an average increase in station waiting time of 20 minutes”. This power outage also disrupted line H of the Transilien.

“The RTE teams immediately mobilized to restore power to the area using other power lines,” assures the manager of the public electricity transmission network. In total, the outage lasted seven minutes and is now definitively resolved. On the transport side, a return to normal is expected by 1:30 p.m., according to the SNCF. RTE, for its part, “apologizes for the inconvenience caused”.