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French train strike set to cause major disruption

Travellers and commuters in France have been warned to expect disruption to their travel plans over the next two days when rail workers will stage a strike in protest against proposed reforms. Find out if you will be affected.

Published: 11 December 2013 09:56 CET
French train strike set to cause major disruption
Travellers and commuters in France should expect delays on the country's rail network on Wednesday evening and Thursday, amid strikes by railworkers. Photo: Bertrand Guay/AFP

France’s rail network will be hit by a nationwide strike on Wednesday evening and Thursday with passengers being warned to expect delays.

Three main rail workers unions – CGT, UNSA, and Sud-Rail – called their members to strike and will be joined by two others, FO and FiRST, who are protesting against rail reforms as well as working conditions and wages.

The strike will begin on Wednesday at 7pm and last until Friday 8am. See below if you will be affected:

  •          TGV: French rail bosses SNCF say 6 out of 10 TGV trains will be operating throughout the strike. On the "TGV Est" line, SNCF says traffic will be “close to normal”.
  •          Eurostar trains between Paris and London will run as normal as will Thalys trains towards Germany and Luxembourg and Spain.
  •          Lyria trains, which run between France and Italy, will have seven out ten trains operating.
  •          On TER trains linking many French towns and cities, travel plans might have to be altered with six out of ten services operating.
  •          Intercité trains will also be reduced with one out of two services cut, however the level of this service will vary from region to region. The Paris to Cherbourg line and the Paris – Limoges-Toulouse- Cerbère line will be hit by disruption.  Services between Paris and Rouen and Paris and Boulogne will also be affected.

PARIS REGION

Commuters in Paris will not escape the disruption caused by the strike, with those travelling on RER trains particularly affected, including those who need to get to Charles de Gaulle airport.

  • On the RER B northern section, which serves Charles de Gaulle airport from Gare du Nord, only one in four trains will be operating, so passengers are advised to give themselves plenty of time to get to the airport or risk missing their flight.
  • On the RER lines C, D and E, one in two trains will be running. Only the RER A will operate a normal service.

No trains will be running overnight on Wednesday through to Thursday or Thursday through to Friday.

In a statement, France's rail operator SNCF said that 250,000 leaflets will be distributed to customers in stations, and one million emails and thousands of text messages will be sent out warning of the disruption. 

The proposed reforms to the French rail system are set to be debated in the French parliament after the municipal elections in May next year. The reforms are aimed at stabilizing debt, which currently stands at €40 billion and also preparing for the opening up of the network to competition.

At time of publication, SNCF did not have comprehensive information of delays and disruptions, but travellers should be able to find out if a specific, scheduled journey will be delayed, by consulting the SNCF trip planner (in English).

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Divisions resurface as Germany celebrates Marx at 200

Germany marks the 200th anniversary of Karl Marx's birth on Saturday, but celebrations risk being marred by protests as the revolutionary philosopher remains a divisive figure almost three decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Published: 5 May 2018 09:17 CEST
Divisions resurface as Germany celebrates Marx at 200
A wrapped sculpture of Karl Marx in his birth city of Trier. Photo: Patrik Stollarz/AFP

Marx's birth city of Trier will lead commemorations of the man officials describe as a “great son of the city”, with 600 events planned around the 19th-century scholar hailed for foretelling the ills of capitalism.

The centrepiece of the festivities will be the unveiling of a 5.5-metre (18-foot) tall statue of the philosopher — a gift from communist China — with dignitaries including a Chinese delegation and the head of Germany's
Social Democratic Party to attend.

But it is also before the statue that the association representing victims of communism have called protests against the thinker they blame for inspiring Stalinist regimes.

“We want to protest loudly against the unveiling of the Marx statue and raise our voices against the glorification of Marxism,” said Dieter Dombrowski, president of the Union of the Victim Groups of Communist Tyranny.

For Dombrowski, Trier's decision to accept the gift from China is “disrespectful and inhuman” to those who suffered under communist regimes.

Far-right party AfD, which enjoys strong support in former East German states, has meanwhile separately called a silent march with the theme “Get Marx off the pedestal” through Trier's city centre.

With the far-right in the melee, counter-protesters are getting ready to march too against the nationalists.

'Neither glorify nor vilify'

Born May 5, 1818 in the western German city close to the border with Luxembourg, Marx developed his theories as the Industrial Revolution gathered pace.

His works such as the Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital subsequently became compulsory course material in countries under communist regimes, with revolutionaries from Vladimir Lenin to Mao Zedong seizing on Marx's ideas.

China's President Xi Jinping on Friday said the Asian giant's communist party will forever remain “guardians and practitioners” of Marxism, while Vietnamese leader Tran Dai Quang also penned a gushing commentary marking Marx's birth.

Due to Marx's reputation as the Father of Communism, he was largely derided in the former capitalist West Germany during the Cold War.

But since reunification, and particularly over the past decade, unbridled capitalism and its discontents have fuelled renewed interest in Marx's work.

His theories on inequality and oppression of the working class find resonance today as societies once again see social and political upheaval.

Rainer Auts, director of a company set up to oversee the exhibitions on Marx's life, works and legacy, said that more than a quarter century after reunification, it was now time to reexamine the philosopher who left Germany deeply divided.

“We're not looking to glorify or vilify him. But we want to show him as a person in his time, as well as show where he may have gone wrong,” Auts told AFP.

But the gigantic statue gifted by Beijing has sparked accusations of a city seeking to capitalise on Chinese tourists or investments.

Rejecting the claims, Trier mayor Wolfram Leibe said it is simply “a gesture of friendship” from China.

“There isn't a single Chinese company in Trier. We have no economic relations with China and that means we made this decision autonomously. We are not susceptible to blackmail,” he told AFP.

Leibe acknowledged that the statue could become a vandalism target, but said: “that isn't going to give me sleepless nights. It can simply be cleaned up.”

'Marx should remain contentious'

The row over Marx and his legacy has also taken on a further political dimension over the AfD's planned silent march.

A group of counter-protestors want to make themselves heard against the far-right party, saying the AfD's controversial ideas against migrants constituted a “violation against humanity”.

At the same time, the counter-protesters are critical of China's present.

“Nationalism and an authoritarian dictatorship rule in China. Trier city would have been better off using its own funds to build the long-overdue Marx statue,” said the counter-protesters, which include several local left-leaning groups.

Wading into the debate on Thursday, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Marx should remain as he has been in history — controversial.

“I think that us Germans, in 2018, should neither inflate Marx nor banish him from our history,” said Steinmeier.

“We should neither be afraid of Marx nor build gold statues of him. In short, Marx should remain contentious.” 

By Claudia Bathe with Hui Min Neo in Berlin