The Monaco Government’s efforts to find a solution to the next nine months of cancelled evening and early morning train connections between the Principality and the rest of the Riviera have made little progress, with only meagre alternatives and a “few days” of compromise thus far proposed by the SNCF.
Following a series of emergency meetings held between the Monaco authorities and regional SNCF heads last week, the train operator has agreed to slightly delay the evening cancellations, but only temporarily. Instead of a halt to services from 9pm on Sundays through Thursdays, the SNCF has announced that trains will cease to run from 10.45pm, meaning that just one connection will be scrapped.
However, the change will only last for a “few days”, and is not expected to not continue beyond the end of this week, when all trains between 9pm and 6am will be taken off the schedule for five days out of the week until the end of June 2025. Details about the cancellations can be found here.
The evening and early morning cancellations are a necessity, says the SNCF, if it is to complete essential maintenance works on the track between Nice and Ventimiglia in Italy. The specifics of the work focus on PMR (Persons with Reduced Mobility) accessibility at Villefranche-sur-Mer station, the catenaries between Beaulieu-sur-Mer and Monaco, the St-Laurent tunnel near Èze and the Multimodal Exchange Hub at the Beaulieu-sur-Mer station.
The news has been met with strong opposition from local governments and passengers alike.
See more: Monaco Government shocked at SNCF rail disruptions, calling the last-minute announcement “unacceptable”
The Monaco Government requested a high-level meeting with SNCF bosses in an effort to find a workable solution to the shutdowns, which was held on 13th September in the presence of Céline Caron-Dagioni, Monaco’s Minister of Public Works, the Environment and Urban Planning, and Jean-Pierre Serrus, Vice-President of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region in charge of transport and sustainable mobility, as well as representatives from SNCF Voyageurs, SNCF Réseau and other regional and Monegasque authorities.
The Monaco Government is understood to have asked for a total postponement of the repairs, arguing that the current schedule does not meet passenger expectations, while also proposing that the work schedule should be reconsidered in the context of large sporting events and other major occasions.
Read more: Monaco’s Conseil National weighs in on SNCF plans to halt evening train services
SNCF’s representatives are said to have pushed back against these demands, offering instead a minor concession in the form of a delay to the start times of the works for a “few days”.
In a statement, the Monaco Government said, “SNCF Réseau has refused the request for postponement (work will start on 15th September), but nevertheless concedes a shift, for a few days, from 9pm to 10.45pm for the start of the daily work period. This shift only requires one substitution at 11.30pm… but it does not meet the broader expectations of the Principality.”
The unsatisfactory outcome for both Monegasque and regional authorities has led to a request for another meeting, which is scheduled to take place in Monaco on 16th September.
Read related:
Upgrades to local train lines to impact services between Nice and Ventimiglia for nine months
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