The large number of employees who travel to Monaco from France each day will find that the train service on which most of them rely will not yet have the needed capacity, since the lockdown in France is due to last one week longer, until May 11.
SNCF has said it will boost the number of trains from May 11, but even then there will not be enough room on the trains for everyone who needs to come to Monaco to work as only 50 percent of normal rail traffic is due to start from that date. If the train operator concentrates services during the morning and evening rush hours this could alleviate some of the strain, but will not eliminate delays and bottlenecks and will make ‘social distancing’ an impossible aim.
Monaco’s Minister of State Serge Telle has acknowledged that there will be problems, particularly when the need for social distancing is taken into account. “We will adjust according to what will happen, but, for the time being, serving Monaco is not one of SNCF’s priorities,” he said on Wednesday.
France’s Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, has proposed thst social distancing can be achieved on the Paris Metro by one seat in two being lleft unoccupied. For anyone who has ever travelled on an early morning train into Monaco, this does not appear to be a practical solution for the TER service.
Commuters arriving in Monaco will be able to obtain masks at the station from a supply provided by the Monaco Red Cross, as long as supplies last. Meanwhile, the Monaco Government is considering extending free parking in the Principality in order to accommodate the expected influx of cars from next Monday.
Image: ©SNCF
