Europe's news in English

COPY LINK

BREAKING

Trains cancelled across France as rail workers strike

Around 60 percent of high-speed and intercity trains were cancelled in France on Friday as rail workers begin a three-day strike.

Published: 30 November 2022 12:30 CET
Updated: 2 December 2022 08:25 CET

Trains cancelled across France as rail workers strike

Photo by Geoffroy Van der Hasselt / AFP

Unions representing conductors and ticket collectors have called a strike running from Friday, December 2nd to Sunday, December 4th, which has led to major disruption across the rail network.

Overall just four in 10 of the normal services are running on the high-speed TGV, Ouigo and Intercité lines, although local TER services are not affected.

Normal traffic is set to resume on Monday, although it is expected that there will be significant knock-on disruption.

Anyone who has pre-booked tickets will receive an email or SMS if their train is cancelled, but travellers are advised to check if their train is running before going to the station. Those services that do run are likely to be extremely busy.

Refunds of 100 percent are available for anyone with tickets booked for strike days – even if their train is not cancelled – and there is also the offer of a free alteration onto any service until December 8th, said operator SNCF.

SNCF says it is running;

TGV Nord – half of normal services
TGV Est – 1 train in 3
TGV Atlantique – 1 train in 4
TGV Sud-Est – 1 train in 3
OUIGO – 1 train in 4

You can find full traffic information here.

The strike will continue on Saturday and Sunday – SNCF will publish full details on which services are running the following day at 5pm each evening. Monday’s services are also expected to see significant knock-on effects from the strike.

The strike is not affecting public transport in cities, or suburban trains such as the link between Paris and its airports.

The TGV Lyria service, which runs between France and Switzerland, has seen some services cancelled but the Eurostar is not affected.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.

Become a Member to leave a comment.

Thunderstorms, floods and traffic: France’s last holiday weekend in May

Monday, May 20th is a holiday for most of France, marking the Christian festival of Pentecost, which means that many people will enjoy a three-day weekend.

This is the last of four public holidays in France in May 2024, now we need to wait until August for another extra day off work (since the Fête National on July 14th falls on a Sunday this year).

So what can we expect for the long weekend? Well, bad weather and heavy traffic, unfortunately.

The Moselle département, in north-east France, was placed on red weather alert on Friday after hours of heavy rain caused flash flooding.

The red weather alert initially runs until 9pm on Friday, with between 80mm and 100mm of rain expected, while between 70mm and 90mm are predicted in the far north of the neighbouring Bas-Rhin, with up to 70mm expected further south – figures national forecaster Météo-France said approached records for daily rainfall figures in the region.

Orange alerts in the area remain in place on Saturday.

Image: Météo-France

Rain and occasional storms, some bringing hail, are expected to develop across large parts of the country throughout the weekend, with only the Mediterranean areas likely to remain dry on Saturday.

Showers and sunny spells will continue into Sunday and Monday, with occasional thunderstorms in the south-west. Temperatures throughout the weekend should rise to between 15C and 22C.

To make family getaways on the final long weekend of the month even more difficult, roads watchdog Bison Futé predicts ‘difficult’, or ‘very difficult’ travel conditions on key routes across the country.

Image: Bison Fute

On Friday, traffic is expected to be heavy on routes heading away from major cities towards popular holiday destinations until well into the evening – especially on Paris’s Périphérique and the A86 and A6B, the A7, along the Mediterranean Arc and on the Atlantic seaboard (A11, N165 and A63).

The A13 is likely to remain closed to traffic between Paris and Vaucresson across the holiday weekend, so drivers from the Paris region wishing to reach Normandy are advised to take the A14, A15 or N12

On Saturday, May 18th, conditions on the roads will be difficult nationwide, particularly on roads serving the Mediterranean arc (A7 and A9) and the Atlantic coast (A63 and N165). In the Île-de-France region, traffic will be heavy from early morning onwards on the A6 and A10. From mid-morning onwards, traffic is expected to intensify significantly.

Image: Bison Fute

Routes converging on the A10 and A6 could also see traffic problems on Saturday, Bison Futé warned.

No major forecastable traffic problems are expected on Sunday – but, on Monday, May 20th, short breakers will be returning home, leading to heavy traffic across the country, notably on A7 and A9, in the Mediterranean region, and routes serving the west of the country.

Traffic will be heavy on the A10 and A6 in the Île-de-France region from late morning into the evening. The A13, which should be open, could also experience traffic problems from mid-afternoon onwards, and could continue to do so well into the evening.

Across the country banks and public administration offices will close. Some independent shops may close, while larger stores and chains are more likely to be open, but probably with altered opening hours.

Most bars, restaurants and cafés will remain open while public transport will run as normal.

Url copied to clipboard!