“It’s like I was in the 1st class of the Titanic!”, comedian Thaïs among passengers stuck on board a train for 10 hours

Passengers on an Intercités train between Nantes and Bordeaux experienced an interminable journey on Sunday November 24. The train, which left around midday, stopped just before La Roche-sur-Yon, before reaching Yonnaise station at 10 p.m. On board, the comedian Thaïs, who was to perform in Longeville-sur-Mer, had to cancel his show.

It's a day they won't soon forget. A very long day and trying to say the least for the passengers of a Nantes-Bordeaux train, stuck for more than 10 hours!

Leaving Nantes at 11:55 a.m. this Sunday, the Intercités were due to arrive at 12:34 p.m. in La Roche-sur-Yon before reaching Bordeaux shortly before 5 p.m. But iIt stopped after around twenty minutes due to an engine failure, even though it was only a few minutes from La Roche-sur-Yon station.

Minutes which will turn into several hours for the passengers, who will experience an extraordinary journey, without electricity, plunged into darkness once night falls and toilets quickly become unusable, with the ban on going down the tracks, “so as not to create any further accidents”justifies this Monday morning, the SNCF.

Among the solutions proposed, a risky manipulation: carrying out a “tow” with the following train, the TGV Paris/La Roche-sur-Yon. “The operation consists of hooking up the two trainsets so that the TGV pushes the Intercités. After an hour and a half, they left at a very reduced speed but very quickly, the trains stopped again in the middle of the track, towards 5 p.m.explains the SNCF. And we didn't think it was going to take this long.”

At 5 p.m. on a Sunday evening, it's complicated to get buses to pick up the 400 passengers

And rather than ending the journey by bus, “complicated given the time and the number of passengers to be transported”, the SNCF preferred to continue its momentum.

A second stop of several hours with exasperated passengers, who were finally able to get off the Intercités train to board the TGV. The two trains were finally able to leave around 9 p.m., at very low speed, before arriving at Roche-sur-Yon station, around 10 p.m.

On board the TGV coming to help the Intercités, the comedian Thaïs, who was to perform in Longeville-sur-Mer, had to cancel his show, aptly named for the occasion: “The Hymn to Joy”.

It's like I'm in first class on the Titanic

Thais

Comedian and TGV passenger

In a video published on social networks, she sends a message to the 300 spectators who came to see her. “I was happy to play at your place and I couldn't… I have now been trapped on a train for 8 hours”testifies the young woman, in a disillusioned tone.

Finally arriving at 10 p.m. in La-Roche-sur-Yon, the comedian was able to enjoy a pizza next to the station, where Samuel Boudeau, the head of the cultural service of Longeville-sur-Mer, was waiting for her, who was able to live, in real time, with your ear glued to your phone, the extraordinary journey of Thaïs and the 400 passengers affected by this double breakdown.

An epic that the music programmer narrates on social networks, step by step.

“Between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. nothing moves. 9 p.m. things move again… Miracle 10:15 p.m.: photo Thaïs at the Gare de la Roche.. arrival 10:30 p.m. pizza with the team… 11:15 p.m. She leaves by taxi then train to Paris. I love my job!!!”.

“It was just mind-blowing. She told me that she was waiting for information to know when the train was going to leave, then finally it left before stopping againsays Samuel Boudeau. And I was stressed because I didn't know whether or not she would be able to perform her show at 5 p.m. to announce the cancellation to the public.”

And it was finally Guillaume Morrow, scheduled for the first part of the show, who saved the furniture by playing the extensions, not on the rails, but on stage!

As for travelers, the SNCF promises, on its website, a reimbursement of 150% for TGV tickets and 200% for Intercités.

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