JACQUES DEMARTHON / AFP
It is impossible to book train tickets departing from or arriving at these Paris stations on July 26. (Illustrative photo at Gare de Lyon, Paris)
SNCF – Another hiccup linked to the Olympic Games? While train tickets for the summer went on sale this Wednesday March 13, some Parisians wanted to jump at the opportunity to book their journey to leave the capital as soon as Paris 2024 opens on July 26. Other French people would have liked to buy their trip to go to the opening ceremony on the Seine. Unfortunately for them, the SNCF must wait for the green light from the government to offer reservations that day.
Contacted by HuffPostthe SNCF Voyageurs service specifies that trains “TGV Inoui, Ouigo, Intercités, TGV Lyria and TER departing from or arriving at Paris Gare de Lyon, Austerlitz and Paris-Bercy”i.e. the intramural stations located in the south-east of the capital, are not yet accessible for July 26. The SNCF is waiting for “validation of the conditions for organizing the opening ceremony of Paris 2024 by the public authorities”.
Airspace closed during the ceremony
If reservations for train journeys are currently suspended on this date, do not hope to turn to the plane either. On March 5, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, announced the closure of the airspace from 7 p.m. to midnight on the evening of the opening ceremony of the Paris Games, within a radius of 150 kilometers around the capital. In this area, no plane will be able to take off or land from the airports.
The security surrounding the opening ceremony, which is taking place for the first time in the history of the Summer Olympics outside a stadium, constitutes a point of vigilance for the authorities. The number of spectators, initially envisaged at 600,000 spectators, has already been halved. Surveillance of the now some 300,000 people who will be able to attend the river parade will be ensured by 86 boats on the Seine, said Gérald Darmanin.
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