Over four successive summers, between 2015 and 2018, the complete replacement of the tracks and ballast on the central trunk of the RER A requires traffic to be entirely halted on this segment over a four week period. Beyond the technical challenges represented by this project, the temporary closure each summer requires that we reinvent our transport offer and support and information services for passengers of the Île-de-France network.
To help them anticipate each summer’s closure, our passengers are informed well in advance via massive information campaigns conducted several months before the line closure: email campaigns, awareness events in stations, and billboard notices in our spaces.
From 28 July to 26 August 2018, the full interruption of service between La Défense and Nation affected 570,000 to 700,000 passengers daily. Building on its success over the previous three years, the passenger support system set up in 2018 has been largely modelled on that of 2017, the rate of service interruption being the same.
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At the same time, we have set up a large-scale customer care system, to reassure and advise all our passengers (occasional, regular, tourists) during the service interruption. Our staff members have been deployed in major train and metro stations to greet and guide passengers towards alternative itineraries, and to channel passenger flows to guarantee the regularity of transport services.
Altogether, more than 1,000 agents were mobilised during peak hours.
