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Paris set to be badly hit on Sunday as strike transport disruption continues

As mass transport strikes move into their second weekend, Paris residents can again expect a badly disrupted couple of days on public transport.

Published: 13 December 2019 17:50 CET
Updated: 14 December 2019 17:50 CET
Paris set to be badly hit on Sunday as strike transport disruption continues
Expect major transport disruption in Paris this weekend. Photo: AFP

The city's RATP network has said it will be following the same pattern as last weekend – when it sacrificed weekend services in order to concentrate its resources on keeping as many commuter lines as possible open during the week.

The strike over pension reform shows few signs of being speedily resolved as both unions and government reiterate their positions.

READ ALSO Will French trains be running by Christmas?

For the government the reform is necessary to create a simpler, universal system that is fairer for everyone.

But unions fear that the changes will leave people working for longer with smaller pensions once they do retire.

In Paris, unions on the RATP network have already confirmed that they will be striking at least until Wednesday, December 18th.

Services on the city's Metro, bus, tram and RER network expanded slightly on Friday, but are set to fall again over the weekend.

Transport bosses have said that their priority is run as many commuter services as possible, and so weekend services will be sacrificed. Anyone who can avoid Metro and RER services over the weekend is advised to do so.

On Sunday, only the two automated Metro lines – Line 1 and Line 14 – will be functioning normally, as was the case on Saturday. All the other fourteen metro lines will be closed throughout the day. 

Two tram lines – 5 and 8 – will be running normally. Lines 2,6,7,3a and 3b will be running all day but with a limited service.

Tram line 1 will run every 15 minutes between 7am and 12pm, and then again from 3.30pm and 8.30pm. 

On the RER only suburban train line B will be running, between 12 noon and 6pm with a limited service. Around 60 percent of the normal bus service will be running. The RER A line is closed. 

RATP has been warning people not to use the public transport network unless absolutely essential.

On the railways the situation will be similar – with slightly fewer services than had been running on Saturday.

On Sunday, there will be 25 percent of the usual services running on the high speed TGV and Ouigo networks. The Intercité will only manage 13 percent, and the Transilien suburban services just one in five as again bosses try to save their resources for commuters.

The worst affected will be the local TER network will have just one in three services running, many of those involving replacement bus services.

SNCF has, however, reopened its online booking system, which had been closed since the strike began because of the uncertainty of the situation. It is now accepting bookings until December 18th on a limited number of services. More information is available here.

Bear in mind that the disruption continues to affect international rail operators like Eurostar, Thalys nd Lyria, all of which continue to operate limited services.

The Channel Tunnel, which does not run on the French railway network, is not affected.

Flights are still looking OK, and there is no disruption forecast.

On the roads there are still blockades at four of France's oil depots, but the other four are now clear and fuel is getting through. There are still some shortages at petrol stations though, especially in the north west of the country, so check out this interactive map if you are planning a journey.

Next week strikes look to continue, with unions calling for another 'day of protest' on Tuesday, December 17th with further one-day walk-outs and marches and demonstrations in the streets.

 

 

 

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TRAVEL NEWS

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail operator and the GDL train drivers' union have reached a deal in a wage dispute that has caused months of crippling strikes in the country, the union said.

Published: 26 March 2024 09:55 CET
German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of €420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of €2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some €200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of €2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

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