Some trains are experiencing delays of up to 5 hours and 30 minutes on arrival at Gare de l’Est in Paris

If you’re planning to travel by train in eastern France, you’ll need to be patient. SNCF has announced major delays on trains between Paris and the East of France due to a broken catenary at Châlons-en-Champagne (Marne) on Friday 26 April.

The catenary broke ‘just before midday’ and the power on the line is due to be repaired ‘during the afternoon’, according to SNCF. TGVs are no longer able to use this line serving Strasbourg, Nancy, Metz, Reims and Paris, and are therefore being diverted to the conventional track, causing delays of between ‘20 minutes and 2 hours’ in both directions, according to the railway company.

According to the SNCF Gares & Connexions website, some trains from Germany are experiencing delays of up to 5 hours on arrival at Gare de l’Est in Paris, and even up to 5.30 hours for a TGV from Colmar. In the outbound direction, delays are in the region of 2 hours to 2 hours 20 minutes. This catenary failure, which occurred during the school holidays in the Nancy-Metz, Reims and Strasbourg education authorities, is causing considerable disruption to travel.