Train delays put travelers at Cran. But a new reason for delay should make everyone agree.
A few weeks before leaving on vacation, train tickets are reserved, the hotel is chosen, the route designed in the smallest detail. But this well -oiled mechanism sometimes knows a few failures! You may have had this unpleasant experience: a departure at dawn, a crowded train, the suitcases that we struggle to stall in the compartments, the children who are already impatient. But that’s it, the time for departure finally sounds! Except that … no, the train does not leave.
There may be multiple reasons for this. A technical problem on the train or on the train, a personnel problem, a traveler discomfort, an incident aboard the train, a forgetting of luggage. Depending on the delay, passengers can benefit from compensation of 25 to 75 % of the ticket price. These delays are obviously difficult to anticipate and you have to take your pain in patience. But the SNCF has just announced a notable change in its delays management protocol, and it relates to a very particular, and fortunately rare, incident type.
In the presence of a pet on the tracks, the train delay is now limited to 20 minutes. 10 minutes to ensure the presence of the animal, and an additional 10 minutes to get it out, without going down on the tracks. If in this period of time the animal has not been located and evacuated, the train will restart at low speed, in order to give it a chance. An SNCF spokesperson told AFP that this new protocol was aimed at formalizing “Use in force since always in this type of situation and applied with common sense and humanity by our agents “. A decision that has been widely welcomed by animal protection associations.
As a reminder, in January 2023, a mother, daughter and their 4 -year -old cat baptized Nekko were preparing to take the train at Montparnasse station. But the animal escaped from its transport box and hid under a train. Despite the supplications of the two women and the turmoil of the travelers, the controllers refused to delay the train and Nekko died crushed by the train. After being sentenced at first instance, the SNCF was finally released on appeal. But faced with mobilization, the French public rail company has set up this new protocol, which for this good cause, makes you want to wait …
