A storm on Wednesday (July 31) temporarily halted high-speed train services connecting Paris, southeastern France, and Switzerland, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded during the Olympic Games and summer vacations.
According to reports from the Associated Press and Agence France-Presse, the French national railway company, SNCF, stated that all high-speed trains traveling between Paris and Lyon’s Gare de Lyon station were unable to operate due to a tree falling on the tracks and being struck by a train. Regular trains using separate tracks were not affected.
The disruption was expected to impact 80,000 passengers.
Severine Lepere of SNCF mentioned that a high-speed TGV train hit a tree, causing damage to the front of the train and rendering it unable to continue. She added that no injuries were reported.
SNCF stated that all passengers on the affected route had been taken back to the station to assist in finding alternative means of travel.
The operator mentioned that no trains would run on the affected high-speed rail line until 5 p.m. local time on Wednesday. Even after 5 p.m., trains would only start departing gradually, with traffic expected to remain “very chaotic.” SNCF also noted that the power supply on this busy southeastern route had been affected.
This marks at least the second significant disruption to France’s high-speed railways in a week. On July 26, the day of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, the French high-speed train network was subjected to coordinated attacks, targeting major routes to Paris from the north, east, and west. Eurostar announced that one-fourth of its services would be canceled. This event had a severe impact on travel, affecting an estimated 800,000 people.