EAST RAILWAY STATION. This Wednesday, January 25, 2023, traffic has seen a marked improvement since this afternoon on the lines serving the Gare de l’Est (TGV, TER but also the P line of the Transilien). The evening forecast.
[Mis à jour le 25 janvier 2023 à 17h11] The day after a historic day without traffic at the Gare de l’Est, after an “act of sabotage” denounced by the SNCF management at a signal box in Vaires-sur-Marne in Seine-et-Marne, Train traffic is returning more and more to normal this Wednesday, January 25 with currently 3 out of 4 TGVs in circulation on the Gare de l’Est network, according to the railway company. All TGVs depart from and arrive at Gare de l’Est and are no longer diverted to Gare du Nord or Gare de Lyon.
Good news concerning the lines of Île-de-France which serve the Gare de l’Est: traffic is now normal, “with some service adjustments”, on the northern branch of the P line of the Transilien. RER E and the southern branch of line P of the Transilien are still running normally this Wednesday, January 25. The return to normal traffic at Gare de l’Est is announced for Thursday 26 January.
TGV and Intercités users have, in principle, received an SMS or an e-mail telling them if their train has been canceled (provided they have provided their contact details) in order to make the exchange or cancellation of their ticket and a 100% refund.
What disturbances this Wednesday, January 25 in the evening at the Gare de l’Est?
This Wednesday, January 25, traffic from or to the Gare de l’Est resumed. In detail, what should users who have planned to travel this Wednesday evening expect?
- TGV East Station : 3 trains out of 4 in circulation this Wednesday 25 January evening.
- TER Great East : the service is adapted, with services to Île-de-France stations.
- RER E : normal traffic.
- Line P of the Transilien : normal traffic except for some residual disturbances on the northern branch (Paris Meaux and Paris Château Thierry axes).
The traffic interruption noted on Tuesday January 24, 2023 at the Gare de l’Est was caused by the damage to “48 cable arteries, or around 600 electric cables”, in a signal box located in Vaires-sur-Marne , in Seine-et-Marne, on the night of Monday 23 to Tuesday 24 January, indicated the SNCF. According to the Minister of Transport, the cables were “burnt”, and this, “at two specific, targeted points, a few tens of meters from each other”, with “a deliberate intention to harm”.
“This morning we suffered an act of sabotage around 3 a.m., we discovered […] significant damage”, added Olivier Bancel, number two of SNCF Réseau, whose The Parisian echoed in particular. And to confirm the thesis already mentioned by the Minister: “It is an act of sabotage on signaling cables which include safety circuits.” SNCF Réseau announced that it had lodged a complaint and the Meaux prosecutor’s office indicated the opening of an investigation for willful damage and endangering the lives of others. At this stage of the investigation, all leads are open as to the identity of the perpetrator(s).
An SNCF executive reportedly told BFM TV that the authors “necessarily knew the network well”. In reaction to these remarks, SUD-Rail delegate Fabien Villedieu felt that it could not be the work of a railway worker who does not have a “tradition of sabotaging his working tool”. “We are on strike to have investments in the network, it is unimaginable that it comes from us”, he explained on RMC this Wednesday morning.