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Rail strike: One third of trains cancelled in France over Christmas weekend

French rail operator SNCF has announced that due to strike action over Christmas weekend, around one third of normal services will be cancelled.

Published: 19 December 2022 14:27 CET
Updated: 20 December 2022 15:12 CET
Rail strike: One third of trains cancelled in France over Christmas weekend
Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP

Despite weeks of negotiation between SNCF bosses and unions, a strike notice for Friday, December 23rd to Monday, December 26th remains in place, along with a second notice for December 30th to January 2nd.

The strike is only supported by certain unions, meaning that some conductors and ticket collectors will work as normal. The strike does not include drivers.

SNCF released a provisional strike timetable on Tuesday, stating that overall two out of three of the normal services will run on Friday, December 23rd. 

The disruption will be concentrated on TGV services, with local TER lines mostly running as normal. The strike does not affected city or suburban public transport.

A detailed strike timetable will be published 24 hours in advance, but at present SNCF anticipates two thirds of normal services running on Friday, with similar levels of disruption over the weekend.

On the TGV Atlantique route in the south west two in three TGVs will run, in the north half the normal service (although the Paris-Lille service will be ‘quasi-normal’) and in the Est area three quarters of normal services will run.

SNCF said that over the weekend 800,000 people had booked tickets as part of the Christmas get-away.

French media reported that unions were divided on the best action to take, so issued the strike notice without a call to stop work, leaving the decision of whether to work or not up to local groups.

Workers now have until Wednesday evening to inform managers whether they intend to strike, and the revised strike timetable for the Christmas weekend will be published on Thursday at 5pm.

A strike notice remains in place for the New Year weekend, although service disruptions will be announced nearer the time. 

Cabin crew at Easyjet have called off strike action over the holiday period while Air France says it does not expect significant disruption.

Anyone with a trip planned to the UK should check with their operator before travelling as British strikes are set to cause significant disruption over the festive period.

LATEST: How strikes will hit travel between France and the UK this Christmas

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TRAVEL NEWS

The key French autoroutes to avoid during France’s long May holiday weekend

If you are planning to drive in France over the long Ascension weekend, then here are some motorways to avoid.

Published: 7 May 2024 13:52 CEST
The key French autoroutes to avoid during France's long May holiday weekend

Workers in France have the rare opportunity this week to enjoy two back-to-back public holidays – VE Day on Wednesday and Ascension on Thursday.

As a result, French motorways will be more crowded than usual, with many people planning to take advantage of the days off to build themselves a long weekend. 

READ MORE: Travel, events, closures: What to expect over France’s double public holiday this week

In terms of traffic, roads will be particularly congested on Tuesday and Sunday, and to a lesser extent on Wednesday and Saturday, according to French traffic watchdog Bison Futé.

Here are motorways you should avoid:

The A13

As a reminder, part of the A13 motorway has been closed for works between Paris and Vaucresson, in the Hauts-de-Seine département, and it is not expected to reopen until Friday morning.

Motorists looking to get to and from Normandy from the capital region are advised to take the A14, A15 or N12 instead.

Along other parts of the motorway, there will also be slowdowns;

Wednesday – Avoid it between Orgeval and Rouen from 10 am to 5pm and between Rouen and Caen between 11am and 1pm.

Sunday – Avoid it  between Caen and Paris from 11 am to 4 pm

The A6 and A10

Heavy traffic is predicted along both motorways in the capital region on Tuesday evening, Saturday and Sunday.

The A7

Tuesday – For motorists in the Paris region, Bison Futé predicted that traffic would “remain very heavy until late in the evening”. Motorists travelling between Valence and Orange should avoid it from 5pm to 11pm.

Wednesday – Avoid it between Lyon and Orange from 11am to 5pm.

Saturday – Avoid it between Orange and Lyon from 1pm to 8pm.

Sunday – Avoid it between Salon-de-Provence and Orange from 11am to 1pm and between Orange and Lyon from 12pm to 9pm. 

The A9

Wednesday – Generally more congested than normal, be prepared.

Saturday – Avoid it between Spain and Narbonne from 12noon to 6pm

Sunday – Avoid it between Spain and Narbonne from 1pm to 6pm, and between Montpellier and Orange from 3pm to 5pm.

The A11

Tuesday – Avoid it between Angers and Nantes between 3pm to 7pm.

Sunday – Avoid it between Angers and Le Mans from 4pm to 8pm

The A25

Saturday – Avoid it between Socx and Lille, from 6pm to 9pm.

Sunday – Avoid it between Socx and Lille from 4pm to 6pm.

The A61

Tuesday – Avoid it between Toulouse and Narbonne from 4pm to 7pm.

Wednesday – Avoid it between Toulouse and Narbonne from 10am and 4pm.

Sunday – Avoid it between Narbonne and Toulouse from 3pm to 7pm.

Mont Blanc Tunnel (N205)

Tuesday – Avoid it in the France-Italy direction from 9am to 11pm

Wednesday – Avoid it in the France-Italy direction from 7am to 6pm

Saturday – Avoid it in the Italy-France direction from 1pm to 8pm

Sunday – Avoid it in the Italy-France direction from 11am to 11pm

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