Rail passengers in the Principality are being told to plan ahead, as the line serving Monaco will be shut for two days next month for major engineering works.
SNCF Réseau will interrupt services between Nice and Ventimiglia, including Monaco/Monte-Carlo station, for the whole of Tuesday, November 10. Trains will remain suspended until the evening of Wednesday, November 11, according to the Monaco Government.
The Government says people should avoid rail travel where they can. It recommends postponing journeys, working from home, adjusting leave days or working hours for affected staff, and switching to carpooling or urban public transport.
Anyone planning to use buses or trains elsewhere on the coast is asked to check the transport operators’ channels, which will be updated with the alternative services on offer. These include the ZOU bus timetables for the Alpes-Maritimes, the TER SNCF Sud Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur website and Zest Bus.
For carpooling, the Government is promoting Blablacar Daily, which is available in the Principality. On any journey starting or ending in Monaco, passengers travel free, while drivers are paid for by the Principality. Details and download links are on the Mission for Energy Transition website.
The closure is part of a wider modernisation programme that will run for several more years, and the Government warns that it will bring further one-off interruptions to the line. The aim is to make the railway more reliable and to allow more trains to run.
Commuters on the coast are already used to disruption. According to SNCF’s TER timetable information, there are no trains between Nice and Ventimiglia from 10pm to 6am, Sunday to Thursday nights, until December 11.