Hundreds of passengers travelling from Paris to Nice were left stranded on the side of the tracks for four hours in baking heat with no air conditioning, after their train broke down in the French countryside during an unprecedented May heatwave that pushed temperatures to record levels.
The train departed Paris at 2.10pm but ground to a halt north of Lyon, near Civrieux-d’Azergues, due to a power supply failure. The cause has not been formally confirmed, though the incident occurred as France recorded its highest ever temperatures for a May day, with the mercury reaching 37C in some parts of the country. After approximately two hours trapped inside stifling carriages, staff from French rail operator SNCF permitted passengers to disembark and seek shade beside the tracks, where outside temperatures still exceeded 30C. Police and train staff worked to reassure those waiting as rescue teams were dispatched to the scene. The total delay lasted four hours.
Footage shared by Le20h-France Télévisions on X, via France TV, captured the scale of the disruption and the distress of those affected. “Even just getting off the train and being outside is better. Because inside was unbearable,” one passenger told France TV. Others drew attention to the particular suffering of vulnerable travellers. “There was a woman with a baby covered in sweat,” one female passenger said, noting the difficulty faced by the elderly and young children on board.
The incident triggered a furious reaction online. “The French downgrade is going to end up in the history books — how is it that in a country like France, the train isn’t air-conditioned in 2026?” wrote one commenter. Another said: “Again and again! This is unacceptable. It’s always the same problems with SNCF!” A third added: “This country is becoming a disgrace, and especially its public transportation. We’re constantly facing increasingly major breakdowns while the price keeps rising.”
The broader context is striking. Climatologist Christophe Cassou told Le Monde that the current heatwave was “an unprecedented event with a one in 1,000 chance of happening at this time of year,” while weather agency Météo-France confirmed France had broken its all-time May temperature record. Transport networks across the country have been widely disrupted as a result.
The disruption carries particular relevance for British travellers, as rail journeys between the UK and France continue to surge. More than 12 million Eurostar journeys take place between London and Paris each year, and with growing concern about jet fuel availability this summer, demand for rail travel is expected to climb further still. Digital ticketing platform TrainPal told the Daily Mail it had seen a 98 per cent year-on-year increase in UK residents booking train tickets in France since last April, alongside a 25 per cent rise in Eurostar ticket sales. Alvaro Ungurean, TrainPal’s commercial director for Europe, said the trend reflected a significant and sustained shift in how British tourists were choosing to travel across the Channel.
