SNCF chief executive Jean Castex told France Inter this morning that the rail operator has "mobilised all workshops" to inspect rolling-stock air-conditioning, catenaries and track infrastructure ahead of the first grand-départ weekend. A new heatwave is forecast to sweep France from 6 July, raising fears of rail buckling and onboard equipment failures that caused 33,000 passengers to suffer delays of more than three hours last week. The company has already sidelined several TGV trainsets for preventive maintenance and doubled track-side surveillance teams in regions expected to breach 38 °C. Nevertheless, Castex admitted he "cannot guarantee 100 %" service continuity if temperatures exceed design tolerances. Intercités, whose refurbishment programme is still under way, remains the most vulnerable segment. For corporate mobility planners, the warning means factoring potential rail disruption into commuter allowances and assignment start dates, especially for employees transferring to the South-East and Mediterranean clusters. Travel-management companies recommend booking morning departures when rails are cooler and maintaining flexible tickets. The episode also demonstrates the growing interplay between climate-related extremes and mobility resilience. Companies with sustainability objectives that encourage rail over air travel must now balance carbon targets with duty-of-care obligations, reinforcing the need for multimodal contingency strategies.
Source: Anadolu Agency
