To great ills, great remedies.
SNCF will gradually eliminate from this Wednesday the number of TGV in circulation.
As of Thursday, there will be only 30% of high-speed trains in circulation.
The details of these cancellations have not yet been specified, but all lines are concerned.
It must be said that since the announcement of the reconfinement, ticket cancellations have multiplied.
For Thursday alone, the day after the intervention of the President of the Republic, 110,000 tickets were canceled.
And train load figures are extremely low for this week.
About 15% on average in all TGVs compared to 60% a week ago.
"This reduction in supply should make it possible to continue to ensure essential and authorized trips within the framework of the exemptions to containment defined by the public authorities, while participating in the fight against the epidemic," SNCF said in a press release.
Thus, services will continue to be provided on the major axes at the rate of one to several daily round trips.
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Reduced offer for Intercités
For Intercity trains, the offer will also be reduced, with only one to two round trips per day from Thursday on the structuring and regional planning lines.
Customers who have booked a ticket for a canceled train are notified at least 48 hours before departure, in order to be placed on another train or to be reimbursed free of charge.
As a reminder, since the outbreak of the epidemic, all SNCF tickets can be canceled, postponed or refunded free of charge.
For daily trains, such as TER and Transiliens, the regions which manage them wait a few days before possibly making any traffic changes.
Thus, Ile-de-France Mobilités, in charge of Transiliens, maintains the transport offer at the level set up during the curfew.
That is to say 100% of the opening of the line until 9 p.m. Between 9 p.m. and the end of service, the offer is adapted to take into account the very sharp reduction in the number of passengers.
Very reduced Thalys and Eurostar
Regarding international TGVs, the offer is also adapted.
On Thalys only 30% of trains since Monday.
And Eurostar only 15%.
It should be noted that the SNCF could still change its transport offer according to train fillings.
As a reminder, at the height of the first confinement at the end of March, at the beginning of April, 7% of TGVs were circulating, or 40 trains per day.
Finally, it should be noted that since Monday, on-board catering services have been suspended, just as they had been in the spring during the first period of confinement.
The Juniors & Cie service, which enabled 35,000 children to travel during the All Saints holidays, has also been suspended since November 2.
