It was following the intervention of Gérard Piel, Vice President of the PACA Region and delegate for transport, announcing on the France Bleu Azur microphone that “everything has been better since the start of the 2007 school year on the PACA TER trains” that the Grasse Vintimille line user association is requesting a right of reply, denouncing a misleading statement and wishing “to put an end to this so-called ostrich communication.”
Indeed, although 5,406 TER trains were canceled in PACA between January 1 and September 30, 2007, nothing is much better on the local railways since after the strike (October 17/18) and a locomotive catching fire (October 15), there have been two catenary breaks in Antibes (October 25) and in Cap d’Ail (October 29) that have once again paralyzed an already very erratic traffic.
Great anger from some users who remained stuck for nearly two hours in a tunnel without detailed information from the staff, nor phone coverage, and who, for some, were unable to reach their homes before 10:30 PM such as this working mother in Monaco: “Yes, you leave for work at 8 AM, your children expect you by 6:30 PM and then nothing… no news… 7 PM, 8 PM, 9 PM… mom has disappeared… Certainly a great scenario that could be adapted into a movie. I hope that after this experience, SNCF will do everything possible to find a faster and better organized contingency plan in case of a catenary break.”
Clearly, this no longer seems really possible on the SNCF’s side but rest assured “Everything is getting better…”
Website of the TER shipwrecked: https://www.ntgv.ublog.com/
