Passengers on the 3:28 p.m. train, bound for Paris, must get off the train this Wednesday, November 13, 2024. A break in the catenary in Saint-Martin-des-Champs, near Morlaix, prevents traffic between Brest and Saint- Brieuc, in both directions then simply between Landerneau and Morlaix, in that direction, from 6 p.m. The station hall quickly becomes crowded.
A woman asks about the possibility of taking a plane to Paris late in the afternoon. Others seek advice from SNCF agents. Who tell them to get on a TER to Quimper and reach the capital. Like a flock of starlings, the passengers then leave the hall for the platform. Hoping to have a place in the next Quimper-Paris.
The train works really well! There is a failure this evening but they always have a solution.
“In general, they put buses”
A little later, around 5:30 p.m., new candidates for the trip towards Morlaix (and more if they like) discovered, for the most part, the situation. Jean-Christophe lives near Landivisiau. He sees trains canceled. “I was hoping to take the 5:40 p.m. one. For now, I see the last one leaves at 8 p.m. But in general, they put buses in place if there is a problem,” he knows.
Not worried either, Dominique, from Plestin-les-Grèves, who arrives and talks with regulars from the same schedule. Every morning, he does Plestin-Plouigneau by electric bike, then Plouigneau-Brest by train before going to Thales, at the end of the tram line. “But I’m going there by bike. Otherwise, it’s too long,” smiles this sportsman. “I spend an hour and forty-five minutes in the morning and in the evening. It's a commuter's pace but I eat breakfast on the train. And then, unlike the bus, you can work there. The train works really well! There is a hiccup this evening but they always have a solution”
Stress for those who have to reach Paris
Bertille, from Paris, is worried. “I have to be there this Thursday morning (November 14, Editor’s note) for a medical appointment before going to work.” She taps on her smartphone looking for an online solution while a friend inquires by phone. “We will take the train to Landerneau then a shuttle to Morlaix. But the train is announced late.” She fears missing the last Morlaix-Paris TGV. Better to go through Quimper, perhaps?
At the start of the evening, the SNCF announced that the shuttles would be in Morlaix for the last Morlaix-Montparnasse, scheduled for 8:14 p.m. But the busy TER at 7:01 p.m., announced leaving at 7:30 p.m., was canceled without announcement at 7:20 p.m…. Last possibility: the one at 8:04 p.m…. Finally left almost an hour late. Considerably full, it served the different stations on the route to Rennes… But too late for Paris!
