Collins Onyeukwu, an indigene of Ohuhu in Umuahia North LGA of Abia state Nigeria has paid €1,200 for a taxi to drive him and his family 600km from Bordeaux to Paris after their train was cancelled this morning.
“Originally the staff [at Bordeaux station] didn’t know what had happened and they couldn’t tell us when the trains would be back on,” Collins says.
“It was chaotic. We were asking questions and nobody seemed to know what was happening.
Then we read from the news there was some sort of crisis on the railways.
“Our train was cancelled, all trains to Paris had been cancelled, and staff didn’t know when the line would be back up and running.”
The 49-year-old has been telling the BBC he, his wife and two children aged 12 and 15 have been planning on attending the opening ceremony for three years – and with a six-hour drive they hope to arrive in the French capital with time to spare.
“We rented a very expensive taxi, but my kids want to see the opening ceremony so I had to do it,” he adds.
“My girls were excited to come and see it and we’ve been looking forward to it, so it was a big disappointment this morning.”
