French rail company SNCF announced on Monday that major work starts on the Monaco to Menton line next week.

Rail travelers over the next 8 months are facing delays and cancellations due to major work being carried out on one of the tracks between Monaco and Menton. A tunnel to the east of Monaco is unsafe, having been built 50 years ago without reinforced concrete foundations. Rail chiefs decided that rather than shut the service down completely, work will be carried out on each of the two tracks in turn, meaning it will take longer and be more expensive. The cost is expected to be 10 million euros.

Passengers traveling on any part of the line between Cannes and Menton can expect journeys to take an extra 12 minutes, some cancellations, and trains stopping at every station. In effect, Monaco will become a terminus station, since passengers traveling onwards to Menton or Italy will have to change to a bus service. New timetables come into effect from 25th May and the disruption will continue until the beginning of 2011.

SNCF : work that's going to cause nightmare journeys

Eight months work and disruptions at the railway station