This weekend, significant rail disruptions will affect travelers on the high-speed line between Paris and Lyon, with complete closures from November 9 to 12. Service on traditional lines will be limited, resulting in extended travel times, such as over four hours for Paris-Lyon trips. SNCF will reduce TGV services to 30%, and several routes will be unavailable. This temporary halt is essential for implementing the European Rail Traffic Management System to enhance capacity and efficiency on this heavily trafficked route.
Important Rail Closures This Weekend
This weekend is set to be quite challenging for rail travelers. From Saturday, November 9, to Tuesday, November 12, the high-speed train line connecting Paris and Lyon, extending to the north of Valence, will be entirely shut down. While SNCF and Trenitalia will continue to operate trains on traditional lines, the frequency of service will be markedly decreased, leading to extended travel times. Passengers can expect journeys between Paris and Lyon to take at least 4 hours and 15 minutes, compared to the usual two hours. Furthermore, the trip from Paris to Marseille will stretch to nearly seven hours instead of the regular 3 hours and 30 minutes.
Service Reductions and Alternatives
SNCF Voyageurs warns that only about 30% of the usual TGV service will be available along the entire South-East axis. Notably, TGVs will not serve Nice during this period, with services only extending as far as Toulon. Additionally, trains to Perpignan and Toulouse via Montpellier will be unavailable. Routes such as Paris-Barcelona, Brussels-Marseille, and Paris-Milan will also see no operations. Trenitalia plans to scale back its services, providing only two round trips daily between Paris and Lyon, down from five. Although Renfe has not released specific information, its daily TGV service from Lyon to Barcelona cannot be booked during the four-day closure.
For those planning to travel, this closure is not unexpected. SNCF Réseau announced these disruptions back in February, and ticket sales have already reflected the anticipated additional travel times. While this situation may be inconvenient for travelers hoping to make the most of the long weekend, the infrastructure manager emphasizes that this temporary halt is essential for enhancing the efficiency of this heavily utilized line, which accommodates an average of 240 trains daily, accounting for one-third of France’s high-speed rail traffic.
During this period, SNCF Réseau will implement the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), a modern signaling technology designed to enable more trains to operate on this nearly saturated route. This advanced system allows real-time tracking of train positions and speeds, providing drivers with essential speed guidance based on their train’s specifications. Ultimately, this upgrade aims to reduce train spacing, thereby increasing capacity on the Paris-Lyon line by 25% by 2030, allowing for 16 trains per hour in each direction, up from the current 13.
After five years of extensive work, which had no previous impact on travelers, these four days of closure will facilitate the activation of 58 new signaling posts and establish a new control center in Lyon. This 101-hour intervention will also involve 22 trains conducting trial runs. The “LGV+” project is expected to cost 820 million euros, primarily funded by SNCF Réseau, with an additional 120 million euros contributed by the European Union.
Currently, the ERTMS system is already operational on various high-speed lines, including Paris-Strasbourg, Tours-Bordeaux, and Rennes-Le Mans. By the year 2031, plans are in place to expand its deployment to the classic route between Marseille and Ventimiglia, which borders Italy.