Storm Austen in the North-West, Mediterranean episodes in the South, demonstrations and curfews in Paris, Orléans or other large cities: many disruptions are expected in public transport in France this weekend. As of Friday morning, the Ile-de-France RER and regional trains in Île-de-France, Normandy, Brittany, Centre-Val de Loire, Nouvelle-Aquitaine or in the north of France were slowed down, delayed or canceled by the passage of storm Austen.
Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot called on travelers to be “utmost vigilant”, also reporting on X that “traffic restrictions” would affect the road network in the west of the country. The Ile-de-France RER lines and regional trains D, E, H, J, L, N, P, R, U and V have been suspended on all or part of their route since this Friday, as well as the C1 cable in Val-de-Marne.
“Faced with the risk of violent winds”, SNCF Réseau warns that it could also suspend traffic or limit the speed of RER A trains, the busiest public transport line in Europe with around 1.4 million passengers per day, in particular “on the Cergy and Poissy branch” in order to “guarantee the safety of travelers and staff”, indicated the SNCF on its site.
The public railway group recommends that travelers “defer their trips” if possible. He promises that traffic will resume “as soon as weather permits”. Mid-morning, in the Paris region, RER C traffic between Massy-Palaiseau and Pont de Rungis-Orly was interrupted in both directions, due to trees that had fallen on the track near Massy (Essonne).
In Normandy, all regional Nomad lines are suspended until Saturday 2 p.m., announced SNCF Réseau. In Hauts-de-France, TER traffic has been completely interrupted since Friday morning on the Amiens-Rouen, Creil-Beauvais, Amiens-Compiègne and Beauvais-Le Tréport lines, as well as on Paris-Beauvais and Paris Nord-Laon since midday.
In the Pays de la Loire, falling trees also caused the interruption of traffic on Friday morning in both directions on the Nantes-Ancenis and Nantes-Angers lines. In Brittany, where regional traffic was stopped preventively on numerous routes, including Brest-Saint-Brieuc, Quimper-Brest or Rennes-Nantes, the resumption of traffic was envisaged “between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m.” depending on the routes. Service changes and cancellations are also to be expected for TGVs traveling between Paris and Brittany, warned the SNCF.
Mainline traffic is severely disrupted between the north of France and Occitanie. The TGVs do not serve Montpellier Saint-Roch and Nîmes Center and stop at Montpellier-Sud de France and Nîmes Pont du Gard due to “heavy rain which caused flooding on the tracks”. No resumption expected before Thursday, October 29. In the South, the circulation of Lio regional trains (Occitanie) is interrupted between Lunel and Nîmes due to significant damage to the rail network due to the Mediterranean episode in the region. The resumption is scheduled for Sunday at noon.
Between Avignon and Miramas as well as between Miramas and Marseille, the trains are no longer running either for the same reason and no resumption is planned “before next Tuesday”, reports SNCF Réseau. The same goes for the Intercités trains between Bordeaux Saint-Jean and Marseille Saint-Charles, and the night Intercités between Paris-Nice and Paris-Cerbère until Monday.
On the social side, coach traffic will be disrupted in Chambéry and Grenoble on Saturday. Rail traffic will be interrupted between Mulhouse Central Station and Mulhouse Dornach due to a demonstration on Saturday midday. In Paris, due to demonstrations and a curfew decreed by the prefecture, access to Châtelet-Les Halles station will be closed “from 10 p.m., without connections or connections”, which will complicate the lives of commuters wanting to return home.
In Orléans, where the National Rally congress is being held this weekend, accompanied by counter-demonstrations, the public transport operator TAO (Keolis group) warns on its site that the network will be “heavily disrupted” on Saturday and Sunday. “For security reasons, some bus stops or stations may not be served,” he warned.
