a user takes 4 hours to travel Monaco-Cannes – Pages Monaco
This evening of November 29, the castaways of the TER along the Riviera sea suffered. A first tweet announces a resumption of traffic at 8:15 p.m. The decor is set. Difficult start to the evening for users of the Monaco-Draguignan axis. The SNCF TER Paca site then gives a maximum of 20 minutes late.
4 hours to do Monaco-Cannes
Over the evening, reactions on the platforms and on board the train follow one another. “I left Monaco at 6:11 pm,” said a Monegasque worker. She will arrive at Cannes station almost 4 hours after her departure.
She got up to stretch her legs, but she ended up asking: “no longer want to move”. Disillusioned, this employee uses the TER every day to go to work in the Principality. After a full day of work, she believes she has counted 4 or 5 long stops on the tracks, in Nice in particular. Nothing to eat or drink, dinner is still a long way off. She will finally arrive a little before 10:10 p.m. at Cannes station, her destination.
Response solutions
Approaching Biot station, around ten people are waiting for relatives, taxis or possible response solutions. A train stagnates on the rails, with a view of the Siesta and in the distance, the Fort Carré Antibois, it is heading towards the city with the ramparts. Some passengers have one foot on the train, another on the platform, they block the doors from closing before throwing their butt into a last swirl of smoke. Everything has been at a standstill for very long minutes, some are leaving the station, others are still hesitating.
Unexpected departure
After lowering his window, the driver indicates that to his knowledge, there are several problems on the track. He evokes “a kind of derailment”, “people to be evacuated from a train between Antibes and Cannes”. No precise news reaches him by radio, impossible for him to give clear directions to travelers. A lady with graying hair, raises her tone a little: “you tell us that there is more for a few minutes, I’ve been waiting for more than half an hour”.
It is almost 9 pm, the screens of the station are announcing delays of 1h40, we will have to be patient. A coral train on the Nice-Marseille link had a technical problem approaching the tunnel leading to Cannes station, people had to be avoided, the two tracks blocked. This will be confirmed by staff at Antibes station on the morning of November 30. The fixed line of the SNCF press service has been called on numerous occasions, but no one has picked up.
Closed doors and communication problems
Many try to reach the SNCF by phone. The number 08.00.11.40.23 is one of the few to appear on social networks, it is saturated with calls and no operator staff is answering.
Another train arrives and stops at the end of the platform. Users run to the doors that refuse to open. The driver tells them that for safety reasons, he cannot let anyone get out or get on.
Bless those who still have the drums
The driver explains that there are “5 trains in a row”, and that the service resumes normally. At 9:10 p.m., the SNCF telephone line finally picked up. A train going to Cannes – and which is due to open this time – is announced at 9:16 p.m. He will arrive at 9:33 p.m. in Biot.
At this hour, it is dead calm in the wagon. No nervousness, what’s the point. The dozens of people passed by while surveying the cars all have their eyes riveted on their smartphones. Series, social networks, mail, sms. Some are online with their loved ones, to apologize for the delay, or to tell about their nightmare.
Antibes station, 10 minutes stop
Antibes station, 10 minutes pass without any announcement from the driver. Even when approaching stations, the names of towns are no longer mentioned. A foreign user, unfamiliar with the journey, sticks his nose to the glass. He tries to guess where he is. At that time of the evening, in this silent train where dozens of tired passengers, the stations are no longer even announced by the internal billboards, ditto for any traffic information.
The driver finally speaks, specifies having spoken to his regulator, and that the traffic finally resumes its normal rhythm. It is 9:54 p.m. “Thank you for your patience, we will finally be able to go to Draguignan station” he punctuates.
Rebelote the next morning
After an upset evening this Monday, November 29, some users find themselves again on the docks this Tuesday morning. Rebelote on the delayed side. A train scheduled for 7:22 am at Cannes station is 5, then 30, then 35 minutes late. No staff among the crowds of people crowding the wharf.
At 7:51, a voice announcement, finally. “Ah well, that’s what we expected” jokes a young user, AirPods deep in her ears and mask stuck to her face. Everyone rushes to the doors. Inside, the train is crowded like an Ile-de-France RER at peak hours. Between the bikes and scooters that are on board with their owners, the bulky suitcases and backpacks of some, it is difficult to make your way, enter or even exit the train without too much hassle.
Another TER was empty of its travelers. A little lost users find means of transport. The driver says there is a “needle problem”.
It will resume its journey a few minutes later, without any passenger on board.