The first shuttle arrived at 9:39 a.m. this Friday at Bouzonville station. On board, hundreds of Germans, who embarked in Dillingen, in Saarland (Germany). All came for the big Bouzonville sale. This event, which dates back to the Middle Ages, each time attracts up to 20,000 people.
The origin of the Good Friday train
During the day, the train made six round trips between Dillingen and Bouzonville. Among the early risers: Sébastien. He woke up at 8 a.m. to take the train and get a seat, which is not always easy: “All the seats on the train were occupied! It was really impressive to see how many people wanted to take the train today”. Unlike Sébastien, who took this train for the first time, others are used to it. This is the case of Birgit: “It’s always a little adventure to take the train to Bouzonville”. She came with her sister, Sigrit. For them, it is a tradition before the Easter weekend: “We’re going to have a coffee with a chocolate croissant. Then we go shopping. We always buy little things for Easter: bread and sausages…”.
An enduring success
The Good Friday train is a project that dates back to 1998. It was led by Bernard Aubin, a former SNCF agent, who began his career in Bouzonville: “I had launched the idea of creating a rail shuttle between Germany and France to shine the spotlight on the fate of Bouzonville station. It is a very small station, which from the 90s was threatened with closure”. 24 years ago, the retiree was present on the station platform. He remembers the day the first Good Friday train entered Bouzonville station: “The weather conditions were abominable. However, the train was packed. We saw hundreds of people come out with umbrellas. They were always motivated for the big sale!”.
Bernard Aubin’s other objective at the time was for this train to run more than once a year, linking Saarbrücken, Dilligen, Bouzonville, Thionville and Luxembourg. A project that has since never seen the light of day.