Storm Ciaran: why TER traffic seems more disrupted than TGV traffic

Rail traffic is still not back to normal after Storm Ciaran. In western and northern France, rail traffic remains disrupted this Friday afternoon and should not fully resume until the next day.

Although some TER lines are still completely stopped, TGVs quickly returned to the road when the storm passed, and the SNCF reported that “there were no particular disturbances.” On the ground, however, the situation is more nuanced: today no TGV reaches Brest, Quimper or Dunkirk. Why was TER traffic more affected by the Ciaran passage than TGV traffic?

Two types of TGV lines

Firstly, TGV trains run on two different types of lines. Either on a high-speed line (LGV), which is reserved exclusively for them, or on a mixed line, which they can share with TER trains, Intercity trains and freight trains.

LGVs are subject to stricter rules in terms of vegetation around the tracks: trees are further away from the tracks, for example, while it is not unusual to see them near a track used by a TER. Therefore, the consequences are minor (but not non-existent) during a storm.

This is where all the nuances lie. In Brittany, no high-speed line has been built beyond Rennes, so TGV trains that venture beyond run on classic lines. The TGVs serving the Dunkerque or Lille-Flandres stations also partly run on classic lines.

More specifically: if the TER stops because the road is blocked by an obstacle, the TGV are also interrupted on the same route. In Normandy, another region violently devastated by the storm, it is simpler: no LGV, not even TGV.

TGV transversal lines saved

On the Haute-France side, the Paris-Lille Europe trains and the Eurostar use LGV throughout their route, which allowed a rapid resumption of traffic despite the delays.

Furthermore, Storm Ciaran relatively saved the TGV transversal lines, in particular Paris-Bordeaux, avoiding disturbances in the rail traffic chain. If “some TGVs” are delayed or canceled “in exceptional cases”, the return of the All Saints’ festivities “will be assured”, the Minister of Transport, Clément Beaune, wanted to reassure.