Journalists are used to talking about trains arriving late. By caricaturing, we could almost say that we would go faster to talk about trains arriving on time for Clermont – Paris. Because the sad reputation of the line will not improve after a day like this Thursday.
The delays started in the morning due to tree branches falling on the catenary in the Nièvre. A recurring problem, which was thought to be resolved after numerous cuts along the line. This is apparently not the case and the Aurora storm has come to remind us. The two Clermont – Paris in the morning arrived 2 hours 10 minutes late for the 5:32 am train (arrival at 11:07 am) and 2H50 for the direct at 5:55 am (arrival at 11:53 am almost a 6 hour journey). Ditto in the other direction where the first Paris Clermont of the day, 7:01 am, stayed two hours at Bercy station before being able to drive and catch up a bit since he arrived in Clermont 1:40 after the scheduled time.
Delays greater than three hours
After a return to normal during the day, a new incident at the end of the afternoon. This time it is EDF cables that fell on the tracks near Nemours, totally blocking circulation. With even greater delays than in the morning.
The biggest is for the train leaving Clermont at 4:32 p.m., arriving at 11:27 p.m., i.e. 3:30 a.m. delay. The next one, which left at 5:32 p.m., arrived a little earlier, at 10:57 p.m., because it had been diverted by Bourges and Vierzon, which was still two hours late.
In the other direction, the Paris – Clermont at 5:56 p.m., the evening direct, was expected at 12:31 a.m., with 3h20 late. And the 6:57 p.m. stayed two hours at Bercy station before being diverted by Vierzon. He was expected in Clermont with 3 hours late, at 1:31.
Even before a possible problem, Friday will be disrupted anyway since the evening live, 5:56 p.m. from Bercy, is canceled due to a strike movement. Another Intercités could well also be canceled in the other direction, without confirmation for the moment.