About 3000 travelers were delayed, some for several hours, Sunday evening after a cut in train traffic between Aubagne (Bouches-du-Rhône) and Toulon (Var) in both directions due to a fire near the tracks
" The traffic was completely interrupted between 4.30 pm and 8 pm ”
, SNCF told AFP,
“ but since 8:05 pm the trains have been running normally again ”
.
About twenty trains were delayed, nine of which were canceled.
They could not be replaced by buses, SNCF told AFP, because of the importance of the incident.
Sunday evening, according to the SNCF, the travelers concerned were about 3000 according to the first non-consolidated data.
They were offered meal trays, water bottles and spare masks.
Several fire starts broke out in the middle of the afternoon along the railway line between Sanary-sur-mer and Bandol, a priori when a train passed
"presenting a mechanical problem that generated projections of sparks"
, according to Var firefighters.
According to the SNCF, it is a freight train which
"had a problem on its convoy"
.
An internal investigation will be conducted.
It took the 45 firefighters several hours to bring the blaze under control, which also threatened villas near the railway tracks.
At around 7:30 p.m., all the homes were extinguished, according to the firefighters, adding that the fire had not injured or affected any home.