SNCF: at the Toulouse-Matabiau station, when the destination “Rodez” disappeared…

The journey would start on Thursday, April 21 at 07:25 AM from Toulouse from Matabiau station and end at 09:46 AM in Rodez, after traveling 2 hours and 21 minutes on the TER. It was a little more complicated. We tell you.

Back from a short vacation between Lille, the Netherlands and Germany (eight full days of good weather, I’m saying that, I’m not saying anything), I was in time for this 7:25 TER train to Rodez. Arriving at the piton a bit slowly and even a little amble before resuming work at 2 pm. But what I didn’t know about the “Ch’Nord” where I was the day before was the strike announcement submitted by the railway unions for this Thursday, April 21. Suddenly the 7:25 am train was removed. Normally the next TER for Rodez is at 10:05 am, plenty of time for a coffee or two. But with the strike, plus the works on the Matabiau station that will last until 2023The day was already getting difficult. Especially since when we looked for the next Toulouse Rodez train on a vending machine, there were no results and no Rodez on the departure board…

Back in the station hall I ask a spokesperson if the train to Rodez still exists. The man looks at his gadget and says, “You should take the train from Cahors to Figeac, which leaves at 9:01 am, then change at Capdenac-Gare.
– And what time does he arrive in Rodez?
– 1:43 pm

Traveling more than 4h40, I told myself I could find less time. And in theory it was possible: at 9.20 am a replacement bus went to Carmaux where at 12.34 pm a LIO connection (regular bus lines in Occitania, but also trains) left to reach Rodez at 1.36 pm. A journey of barely 1h02. Good luck, what.

Liaison LIO, the ghost train

So I grab the ticket, get on the bus and join Carmaux, a little reassured. At the station, the departure board read “Rodez, 12:34 PM, runway B, on time”. Everything is fine. I even had time to swallow a couscous in 20 minutes at the Grand Café de la Poste. On the way back I realize that all entrances to the platform are closed. I skip a gate, go to platform B, but at 12:34, nothing, not the nose of a TER in the livery of LIO. I jump back to the grid in case this LIO train hasn’t been replaced by a bus due to a strike, but again, nothing but the regional buses that serve the Albi-Carmaux connection. I call 0 800 31 31 31, the LIO info number, to ask if there is a replacement bus scheduled for Rodez, but I only hear something like “Due to too many calls, we are unable to respond to your request. Please call back later “. And click, he hangs up. While chewing the bit in front of the LIO panel of the Toulouse-Albi-Rodez train in front of the station, I see a very small word that tells me that for our “comfort” in particular “maintenance work the closure of your line from February 12 to 13, from March 7 to May 6 and from May 28 to 29“Ah yes, I forgot those works…

Does this mean I was on strike or not, I wouldn’t have had this train even if it had been announced on the station’s departure info panel? I use the flash of a beautiful blond lady at the station ticket office to ask her. She replies, “But it’s the panel, it updates automatically, it’s the strike, there’s no train.”

And the next train, finally, the next bus to Rodez, is at 2:10 PM, for an arrival at 3:25 PM. Difficulty getting to work on time.

Alternatives? No alternative

To clock in on time, let’s take a look at Blablacar. Unfortunately, all Carmaux – Toulouse rides are full, except for one, which leaves too late for me. One of the consequences of the strike. I then decide to call a carmausin taxi, even though the journey will cost me more than a return flight from, for example, Toulouse to Lille, according to the latest stock prices. Just say it. On the other end of the line, Mr. Redoulès, a taxi driver, when I ask him if he can take me to Rodez, snorts: “Listen, it bothers me, but I can’t say yes to you. I’m overwhelmed I’m not even going to tell you Giving my colleagues the phone number is of no use to you. We called each other between colleagues, we are all full for today”.
Another effect of the strike.

So I decide to wait for the replacement bus at 2:10 PM and warn work that I will be two hours late. Finally, I depart from Carmaux and after an arduous journey that will have lasted eight hours, I land in Rodez at 3:25 pm sharp, under the clouds and the raindrops, thinking with a few sighs of the sun of old Lille , the beaches of Bürgh-Hamstede in the Netherlands or Westphalian Lakes.
Just say it.

I remember a SNCF advertising slogan from a few years ago: “With the SNCF, anything is possible”. I agree, anything is possible. Including galleys.