Key Paris rail station powers back up

PARIS - Power was finally restored to a key Paris rail station three days after a crippling fire disrupted the holiday plans of thousands of people on a crucial midsummer weekend.

The fire at a high-voltage substation outside Paris brought traffic at Montparnasse to a standstill shortly before noon on Friday.

While electricity was restored in the late afternoon Monday, state rail operator SNCF said only two-thirds of the roughly 230 scheduled trains in and out of the station would operate on Tuesday.

A complete return to normal will not be seen for several days because the maintenance facility for high-speed TGV trains was also hit by the power outage, leaving many locomotives out of service, SNCF said.

Montparnasse, France's second-busiest station for high-speed train traffic, is a main departure point for holiday destinations.

The weekend was one of the summer's busiest with millions of people returning from their July vacations and millions of others taking to the roads, rails and skies for their August break.

The trains that did operate from Montparnasse were often packed solid, with hundreds standing in corridors for trips taking up to several hours longer than usual.

Scores of trains were canceled over the weekend, stranding thousands of people in sweltering stations across western and southwestern France.

Others had to be rerouted throughout the weekend, often with hours of delays.

Grid operator RTE drew the government's ire when it warned that power might not be fully restored until Thursday.

The cause of the blaze remained unknown on Friday, though RTE ruled out arson.

On Monday, agents could be seen distributing coffee and bottles of water to weary travelers at Montparnasse.

While many were taking the disruptions in stride, often thanks to text alerts and updates, patience was wearing thin for others.

"Our train from Montparnasse was canceled. We were told to get one from the Gare d'Austerlitz but there it was canceled again," said Nicolas, a pensioner traveling with his wife and their grandson.

Speaking to reporters about her dealings with exasperated clients, one agent said: "We can obviously see that passengers are fed up. Waiting for hours like this is certainly not a picnic."

The SNCF is urging people to postpone trips if possible, while offering to reimburse travelers who opt instead for the company's carpooling service Idvroom.

Agence France-presse

(China Daily 08/01/2018 page11)