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Glance around France: Whatever happened to Dordogne's new train link?

The Local France
The Local France - [email protected]
Glance around France: Whatever happened to Dordogne's new train link?
Photo AFP

Here's why the brand new Périgueux-Sarlat line in the Dordogne region has been dubbed a “ghost train” less than two months after hitting the tracks.

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If you travel regularly by train in France’s Dordogne region you may have been wondering where the newly created Sarlat-Le Buisson-Périgueux line went all of a sudden.

It was first put in motion on January 2nd 2019 after Nouvelle-Aquitaine’s regional government requested it from France’s public rail service SNCF.

The goal was to offer an alternative to train passengers wishing to go to Bordeaux without having to take the bus between Bergerac and Libourne (the railway section between the two train stations has been closed for nine months due to renovation works).

However, only three days after the line was commissioned, the twice-daily service stopped running abruptly and without any word of warning.

Local authorities’ request for some clarification from the SNCF fell on deaf ears for almost four weeks, only for the TER service to resume operations again on February 4th completely out of the blue.

Was it just down to bad planning or neglect? The SNCF finally spoke up about the matter and put the temporary disappearance of the TER Aquitaine train down to more works being done on the line.

But before you book your tickets in advance for the springtime, bear in mind that the Périgueux-Sarlat line is set to drop off the grid yet again, between March 4th and May 3rd.

Maybe take the bus instead?

 

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