“No one came”: a Hendaye-Paris train victim of an electrical incident, passengers arrive in Bordeaux nine hours after their departure

“We broke records, length records.” Due to an electrical incident, passengers on a train linking Hendaye to Paris experienced a real ordeal on the night of Friday November 22 to Saturday November 23. Stranded shortly after their departure, they only reached Bordeaux at 3:30 a.m., reports BFMTV.

“It was very long, we didn’t know how long we were going to wait. They didn’t know either,” one of them told the 24-hour news channel. “We broke records, length records”, “no one told us anything, no one came, there were very few SNCF staff there”, said two others.

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The train, which left the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, stopped shortly after 6 p.m. due to an electrical failure. After nine hours of waiting, the passengers were finally picked up at Bordeaux station, where they were offered a night in a hotel, specifies BFMTV.

Reimbursed up to 150% of the price of their ticket

According to SNCF, the cause of the breakdown was a catenary break caused by the passage of another train earlier in the day. “Agents have carried out the diagnosis, one of the lanes is passable. An alternating traffic system on this lane has been put in place for both directions,” explained the company.

The passengers left Bordeaux this Saturday, November 23 at 5:18 a.m. aboard a train specially chartered for them. Their arrival in Paris is scheduled for mid-morning. As compensation, the SNCF has agreed to reimburse 150% of the price of their ticket.