The SNCF invited its customers on Wednesday to postpone or cancel their scheduled trips Thursday, peak day of heat wave, to or from the 20 departments placed in red vigilance by Météo-France, including including the entire Ile-de-France and the Hauts-de-France.
The trains have to move, but the company recommends to its customers "who must absolutely move" to carry bottles of water and invites them to be attentive to their neighbors in train stations and trains. It undertakes to exchange or refund the TGV and Intercités tickets free of charge until Thursday evening.
The Parisians called to limit their trips Thursday. The transport authority Ile-de-France Mobilités (IDFM) Wednesday urged Ile de France to "limit their travel as far as possible" Thursday. IDFM asked RATP and SNCF to "put in place preventive measures to ensure the proper functioning of train and RER infrastructures and the good conditions of passenger safety," she said in a statement.
The operators are thus encouraged to limit the speed of the trains if necessary in order to preserve the infrastructures and to set up "a reinforced surveillance of the electrical installations which are strongly solicited".