Bordeaux - Pauillac 2nd September

[100andthirty]

We want ot visit Pauillac which is about an hour by TER north of Bordeaux on 2 September. Pauillac is hosting the Marathon du Medoc on that day. THe TER timetable for that line is quite regular - roughy every hour to 90 mins. But on the day of the Marathon there's an early train at about 7:30 am and then nothing until after 12:00. Similar on the return journey.

This is a rather obscure request but does anyone know why the service is so sparse on a day when the railway might expect to be busy?

 

[Segedunum]

It looks like possibly engineering works in the middle of the day.

The Interrail app (not usually perfect, admittedly) shows a couple of replacement buses running Macau - Point de Grave.

 

[100andthirty]

Thanks for your feedback

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

I suspect the service is suspended for the duration because the route crosses the line at several points, and the risk of participants ignoring the barriers.
There have been some bad incidents in the past with cycle races such as the Paris - Roubaix, for example.

 

[Gloster]

I suspect the service is suspended for the duration because the route crosses the line at several points, and the risk of participants ignoring the barriers.
There have been some bad incidents in the past with cycle races such as the Paris - Roubaix, for example.

Agreed, this is the most likely reason.

 

[30907]

A quick check on the website
https://www.ter.sncf.com/nouvelle-aquitaine/se-deplacer/fiches-horaires
shows mid-morning trains terminating at Macau and RRBs thence which omit Pauillac in connection with the marathon - for some reason it's called "travaux."

 

[100andthirty]

Thanks to everyone who responded to my query. We did indeed travel on the only morning train we discussed.....and so did an awful lot of other people. It was formed of two articulated DMU units - 6 cars in total and by the time it arrived at Pauillac it was absolutely rammed. It was full and standing when it left Bordeaux St Jean with more people joining at each stop.