This Thursday evening, dozens of passengers on a Paris-Toulouse train were stranded at Montparnasse station due to farmers’ protests.
Gaëlle had just settled into a train heading to Toulouse on Thursday evening at Montparnasse station. Three minutes before departure, a SNCF agent’s voice came over the loudspeakers, inviting passengers going to the Pink City to get off. Like many, she didn’t hear it due to the background noise of the passengers’ discussions.
Suddenly, a man stood up and shouted that “this train is not going to Toulouse”. Some passengers tried to reassure him, telling him that it was indeed his destination. At the same time, the SNCF agent’s voice repeated the instruction. Panic spread among some of the passengers. They exited the carriages in groups.
“We all tried to call our loved ones to figure out what we were going to do. Some wanted to switch to the airplane despite the exorbitant price of tickets. I thought that maybe Toulouse-Blagnac airport would also be blocked,” said the 55-year-old woman.
She went to inquire about the situation with SNCF agents. She was told that the railway network was blocked from Bordeaux to Toulouse and that “there won’t be enough buses to transport all of you”.
The SNCF, when contacted, indicated that the connection between Bordeaux and Toulouse was impossible due to the farmers’ demonstration. Tires had been thrown onto the tracks in Agen.
Gaëlle was supposed to meet her partner in Toulouse. She had taken a day off on Friday. Eventually, this saleswoman in a Parisian company will go to work.
