TGV and TER traffic is interrupted south of Bordeaux

TER and TGV train traffic was interrupted south of Bordeaux (Gironde), Tuesday August 2, due to a fire which broke out in the middle of the afternoon near the tracks in Laluque, near Dax (Landes). “All trains have been interrupted since 3:00 p.m. on the Bordeaux-Hendaye and Bordeaux-Dax-Tarbes lines”, said a spokesman for the SNCF. The flames jumped the railway line which passes to the east of the town, explains France Bleu Gascogne.

The company was not able at the end of the afternoon to give an estimate on the time of resumption of traffic and invited travelers to postpone their trips on this line. More than 2,000 people were thus stranded at Dax station, where two TGVs and a TER were at a standstill. The trains, which came from the south, had to go back to bring passengers who wanted to back to their starting point.

At 5:30 p.m., the fire had destroyed 30 hectares of pines and mobilized two Canadair, a Dash plane, nearly 170 firefighters and a dozen gendarmes, according to the Landes prefecture. This announced the passage of the department in red vigilance (level 4 out of 5) for the risk of fire from Wednesday midnight.

Another fire had been set in the morning after having covered 300 hectares since Sunday in the pine forest in the far north of the department, on the border with Gironde, also placed on red alert for the risk of fires.