Eurostar told passengers that: “Due to strike action by some of our staff in France, there may be delays and last-minute cancellations.”
In total six trains were cancelled on Monday, with a further three listed as cancelled on Tuesday.
Passengers were advised to check before travelling, and only go to the station if their train was scheduled to run, as services and stations were described as “very busy” by Eurostar.
Services for the rest of the week are currently listed as running as normal, but passengers are advised to check here before travelling.
France has been hit by a series of one-day strikes since January as French workers protest against the government’s plan to raise the pension age from 62 to 64.
However, Monday and Tuesday are not scheduled strike days and French domestic SNCF train services appeared to be unaffected, as do other international routes like Lyria and Thalys services.
Eurostar described the action as “short-notice industrial action”. Workers in essential industries like rail are usually required to give 48 hours notice of their intention to strike. However they do have the droit de retrait (right of withdrawal) which allows workers to walk out at short notice under a specific set of circumstances, usually if there are concerns for the health or well-being of staff.
The next scheduled mass one-day strike in France is Tuesday, June 6th.
You can keep up with all the latest in our regularly updated strike calendar HERE.
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It was worse the previous day. I got the last Eurostar from Paris – it left an hour late and arrived in London over 2 hours late (after last Tube had gone). But at least it ran – they texted me to say it was cancelled (by which time I’d gone through customs!) then texted again to “clarify” that it wasn’t. Info generally at Gare du Nord contradictory, unhelpful or absent.
They also cancelled multiple services on Sunday 14 May as per their Twitter account. According to comments on Twitter travellers were given conflicting information as to whether some/all services were cancelled. Some even reported that some trains that supposedly were scheduled to proceed were cancelled although they displayed as departed. Travellers reported on Twitter the system didn’t allow them to change trains or claim refunds as per advice on their website.