A blackout lasting several hours, which notably plunged the regional command post into darkness, interrupted the circulation of TER, TGV, Thalys and Eurostar in all of Hauts-de-France, SNCF said on Twitter.
Lille Flandres and Lille Europe stations were temporarily closed to the public, before reopening.
Traffic disrupted until mid-morning
The minimum current has been restored to allow a gradual resumption of train traffic from 7:45 a.m., said the company's communication service.
Traffic should nevertheless remain disrupted until at least mid-morning according to the same source.
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Given the time needed to get traffic back on the road, "
this is likely to be a particularly disrupted day
", for his part estimated Franck Dhersin, vice-president of Hauts-de-France in charge of transport, evoking a possible link with the exceptional heat recorded over the past two days in the region.
The prefecture called for postponing travel or “
favoring other means of transport as soon as possible
”.
