no stop in Nancy but regrets
False joy ! Announced at the start of the school year by SNCF and OBB, an Austrian train company, the future Paris – Vienna night train, which will run (via Munich in particular) from December 13, seemed to be keeping an eye on Nancy travelers – and more broadly. Lorraine-tempted by a tourist or professional trip to Austria or Germany.
This new Nightjet line (name of the night trains of the Austrian railways), born out of OBB’s desire to develop connections to various major European cities, was in fact presented as follows, on the provisional timetable sheets: in the sense Vienne-Paris, departure from the Austrian capital at 7:40 p.m., arrival in Paris at 9:42 a.m. with a stop in Nancy at 6:33 a.m. In the other direction, departure from Paris at 7:58 p.m., passage through Nancy at 23 07:07 am for an arrival in Vienna at 10:12 am the next day. Before being able to buy their tickets, future customers could thus consider leaving Nancy, or alighting there.
Stop announced, then deleted
But on September 28 – day of opening of reservations – a cold shower, especially on social networks where users watched the launch of ticket sales: Nancy was no longer on the list of stops between the two capitals …
“I do not understand and I am disappointed”, testifies for example Charles Mercier. “During September, the OBB company was nevertheless signaling that the line would stop in Nancy…” Originally from Richardménil, this Meurthe-et-Mosellan now lives in Vienna, where he is a teacher in the French high school; hence its regular return trips (“approximately every two months for family reasons”) between Austria and its department of origin.
Subject of a motion in March
“I don’t take the plane to limit my ecological impact, and what’s more, it’s long; by train, it takes me about 14 hours, via Germany. So I was very happy when I saw the first news, which evoked this stop in Nancy! But when I wanted to take my tickets, at the end of September, the stop had been canceled. It’s a real shame, for me obviously, but also for the city and its surroundings, which could benefit from tourist and economic income. ”
Same disappointment for Pascal Jacquemin, metropolitan councilor and spokesperson, last March, for a motion relating to these international night trains. “There is reason to be furious that France has accepted that this train is non-stop between Paris and Strasbourg” sighs the man, tenacious (see elsewhere).
“A simple mistake”
For his part, mobility assistant at Essey-lès-Nancy, Francis Vogin is surprised. “This line is carried by the Austrian company, of course, but I am not sure that the SNCF and our communities have really moved to get a stop in Nancy… When we see that this train will stop in stations in cities Austrian and German women of much smaller size – including Karlsruhe, twinned with Nancy -, there is something to ask questions. “
For the OBB company – which we contacted on Thursday – “it was a simple mistake that Nancy had been indicated in our timetables”. And to mention in addition that a stop was well envisaged in the city of the Dukes… but for technical and personnel reasons. Not for travelers! The people of Lorraine will therefore have to leave Strasbourg in Paris to go to the famous city of cafes. Just as the Austrians or Germans wish – at random – to visit the favorite monument of the French, will have to find another railway line. Or some other means of transportation.