Marseille Local Transport 16/17 March

[wellhouse]

We are staying in Marseille on the night of Saturday 16th March (en route from Genoa to Paris). When I search for public transport routes to and from Hotel Le Corbusier, both on Google Maps and the RTM Route Planner, instead of the approcximately 20 minute journey by Metro M2 and Bus currently offered, when I check the dates we are there, I am offered an extraordinarily circuitous route involving RER and Bus, taking about 1 hour 20 minutes.

I have found no information on the cause; is there a local transport strike, or some major event taking place? If it's a strike, we can probably manage by taxi, but if there is a major event, we may need to change hotel; we're on the 0903 TGV from Marseille to Paris on the Sunday morning.

 

[nwales58]

Edit: Look at timetables by line. They are only for the next 2 weeks.

So I would expect to see the timetable for 17/03 by 04/03.

Note that area is on school (skiing) holidays until 10/03 so current times are for the non-school period although that normally only affects weekdays.

FWIW, if it was me, as it's France and overnight before a TGV and possibly Eurostar connection, I would book something within walking distance of Saint-Charles for peace of mind.

 

[Beebman]

For a hotel close to the station I can recommend the Ibis Marseille Centre Gare Saint Charles - I've stayed there twice in recent years, it's just round the corner from the main entrance with about a 100 metre walk.

 

[U-Bahnfreund]

A handy page to see what strikes are currently on in France is cestlagreve.fr

 

[Myb]

On the 16th of March the metro will run normally in the evenings (there are engineering works on weekdays, the full calendar is available at https://www.rtm.fr/bus-relais-m1m2 ), so I think the trip planner is not yet fully loaded and you will be fine.

 

[Jamesrob637]

Trams in Marseille are pretty efficient, and safe enough despite some of the city's reputation.

 

[wellhouse]

So it seems that timetables for Marseille Bus & Metro are published only at relatively short notice.

We kept our booking for Hotel Le Corbusier, and Bus & Metro connections with St Charles were both fine on Saturday evening and Sunday morning.