SNCF Réseau on the job in the French Alps
In July 2019, storms triggered a mudslide on the tracks between Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and the border town of Modane, in the Savoie department of southeastern France. Rail service to Italy was suspended. But our SNCF Réseau teams went all out and had trains back up and running by the end of the month.
At around 8:00 pm on Tuesday 2 July 2019, a mudslide 1.80 meters tall surged across the tracks between Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and Modane, in the Savoy department of eastern France. As a result, all passenger and freight train traffic was suspended between France and Italy: the high-speed TGV line linking Paris and Milan, Italian Thello trains, regional TER lines, and the many freight trains that run between France and Italy via Modane.
Mudslide between Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and Modane
Safety first: service suspended
When Météo France issued a storm warning that evening in July, we decided to halt rail traffic as a precaution, to avoid putting passengers in danger. And despite crews working all out to clear the rubble and clean off and repair the tracks, the line between Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and Modane was down for several weeks.
Back up and running
SNCF Réseau experts quickly assessed the line to determine exactly what work would be needed for traffic to resume normally. We also set up a replacement service to get ticket-holding customers travelling between France and Italy to their destinations. To minimize inconvenience to our customers, SNCF teams had the tracks in working order ahead of schedule, and rail service resumed on 23 July 2019.
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