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STRIKES

How Paris transport will be hit by Tuesday’s pension strikes

Tuesday, February 7th marks a third day of mass strike action in protest at planned pension reforms in France. Here's how the strike will impact services in the French capital Paris.

Published: 6 February 2023 11:23 CET
Updated: 7 February 2023 08:59 CET
How Paris transport will be hit by Tuesday's pension strikes
Passengers look at information screens as the traffic is disrupted at Gare du Nord train station on a second day of nationwide strikes and protests against the government's pension reform plan, in Paris (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)

Rail workers, public transport employees and teachers are along the people who will walk out on Tuesday in the latest one-day strike as unions battle the government over plans to reform the pension system, including raising the retirement age from 62 to 64.

Another day of mobilisation is also planned for Saturday, February 11th, however according to reporting by AFP, it will not involve any strike action from French national rail services, meaning trains run by SNCF are expected to operate normally on Saturday.

Here’s how this will affect Paris – you can find full details of the nationwide service impacts HERE.

READ ALSO: 6 ways to get around Paris without public transport

Metro

Services will be severely disrupted on the Paris metro system, and RATP has recommended that those who can telecommute to work do so.

As in previous strikes, metro lines 1 and 14 will run normally, though you can expect large crowds, particularly during rush hour. The metro line 3bis will run normally as well. Keep in mind that line 14 will close at 10pm, as it usually does on Tuesday’s due to ongoing works to upgrade the line.

On other Paris metro lines, half of trains will run on line 4, but others will run on reduced schedules, with some only operating during the morning and evening rush hours. Lines 8 and 13 will see portions of the line closed, as well.

Line 2 – 1 train out of 3 will run from 6:30am until 8pm

Line 3 – 1 train out of 3 during rush hour (6:30am to 9:30am and between 4:30pm and 7:30pm)

LISTEN to The Local’s latest podcast on how strikes in France are set to intensify

Line 4 – Half of the trains on this line will run throughout the day

Line 5 – 1 train out of 3 will run starting at 5:30am until 8pm

Line 6 – 1 train out of 6 will run between 5:30am and 8pm

Line 7 – 1 train out of 3 will run between 6am and 10pm

Line 7bis – Half of the trains on this line will run from 6am to 10pm 

Line 8 – 1 train out of 3 will run during morning and evening rush hour – from 6:30 am until 9:30 am and again between 4:30 pm and 7:30 pm

Line 9 – 2 trains out of 3 will run in the morning, and then half of trains will run in the afternoon. Services will begin at 5:30am and end at 8:30 pm on this line.

Line 10 – 1 train out of 3 will run during the morning rush hour from 6:30 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. Then, half of trains will run in the evening rush hour from 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. 

Line 11 – Half of services will run from 6am to 11am, and then 1 in 4 trains will run from 4:30pm to 7:30pm.

Line 12 – 1 train out of 3 will run from 5:30 am until 8:30pm

Line 13 – 1 train out of 3 will run during rush hours (between 6:30 am and 9:30 am; and between 4:30 pm and 7:30 pm)

Station closures 

Closed all day – Hôtel de Ville, Simplon, Strasbourg – Saint Denis, Réaumur – Sébastopol, Cité, Saint-Placide, Alésia, Barbara, Hoche, Laumière, République, Richard-Lenoir, Campo-Formio, La Motte Piquet – Grenelle, Cadet, Opéra, Tolbiac, Grands Boulevards, Jourdain, Goncourt, Rambuteau, Balard, Invalides, Varenne, Liège, Guy Môquet, Garibaldi, and Brochant.

Partially closed – Champs Elysées – Clémenceau (Open between 6:30 and 9:30 am, and 4:30 and 7:30pm); Reuilly – Diderot (Open between 6:30 and 9:30 am, and 4:30 and 7:30pm); Villiers station (Open between 6:30 and 11am and between 4:30pm and 7:30pm); Jussieu (Open from 6:30 to 9:30 am and between 4:30 and 7:30 pm); Michel-Ange (Open between 6:30 and 9:30 am and between 4:30 and 7:30 pm); Auteuil (Open between 6:30 and 9:30 am and between 4:30 and 7:30 pm); Molitor (Open between 6:30 and 9:30 am and between 4:30 and 7:30 pm); Sèvres – Babylone (Open between 6:30 and 9:30 am and between 4:30 and 7:30 pm); Arts et Métiers (Open from 6:00 to 11:00 am and between 4:30 and 7:30 pm).

For more specific information about station closures, click here.

Bus

On average, 8 buses out of 10 will run.

Tram 

Traffic will run normally on the tramline. 

RER Services

RER A – half of trains will run throughout the day.

RER B – half of trains will run throughout the day. Keep in mind that connections may be disrupted at Gare du Nord.

RER C – one in three trains will run

RER D – one train in six will run

RER E – two trains out of five will run

Transilien lines H, J, K, L and N will run one train out of three. Line P will run one train out of five, with normal services between Esbly and Crécy. On line R, no trains will run between Melun and Montereau on the Héricy route.

Regional TER trains will run three out of 10 trains on average on Tuesday, and services will be heavily disrupted across all French regions, including those connecting with the capital.

Eurostar 

The Eurostar has cancelled seven trains running on Tuesday and one running on Wednesday morning. You can see which journeys will be impacted here.

On average, the Eurostar service will run three trains out of four.

Trains

National and international rail services in and out of the capital will be severely disrupted, as the four main unions (CGT Cheminots, Sud Rail, CFDT Cheminots, and UNSA Ferroviaire) representing workers with France’s national rail service, SNCF, have all called for strike action on Tuesday, February 7th.

Representatives from SNCF said that they expect that French national rail services will be “heavily disrupted” on Tuesday due to strike action. Only half of France’s high-speed TGV trains will run normally on Tuesday February 7th, representing less disruption than the day of action on January 31st where only one in three TGV lines ran according to normal operating times.

The level of disruption will depend on geographical location. Two out of five TGV trains are expected to run in the north; half will run in the east, one in three will run in the west, and two in five will run in the south east. 

As for low-cost Ouigo trains, two out of five trains will run across the country on Tuesday.

Intercity and regional TER trains operated by the SNCF will also see services disrupted on Tuesday.

As for daytime intercity trains – SNCF will run two return trips on the Paris-Limoges-Toulouse, Bordeaux-Marseille and Nantes-Lyon lines. It will run one return trip on the Paris-Clermont line. No trains will run on the Nantes-Bordeaux and Aubrac (Clermont-Béziers) lines.

Travellers can expect normal services on the Paris-Nice nighttime intercity line. However, no trains will run on the Paris-Briançon, Pyrenean (Paris-Lourdes/La Tour-de-Carol) and Occitan (Paris-Toulouse) nighttime lines.

Transilien services will run an average of two trains out of three.

You can check to see if your journey will be affected by strike action by going to the SNCF website here – updated information will be available at 5pm on Monday, February 6th.

French national rail services told BFMTV that they recommend that travellers either cancel or postpone their trips for Tuesday. 

International rail services will also be impacted by Tuesday’s strike action. Lyria (which connects France to Switzerland) will see about half of services run as scheduled, and Thalys services will be “slightly disrupted”. 

Flights 

There will be some cancellations of flights, but only those travelling via the Paris Orly airport. Ahead of Tuesday’s strike action, France’s Civil Aviation Authority asked the Paris-Orly airport to cancel one out of five flights.

As a result, disruption at the Paris-Orly airport will likely be similar to that of January 31st, when approximately 20 percent of flights operating out of Paris-Orly airport were cancelled, but other airports were mostly spared. 

Schools

Many schools in the capital will be fully or partly closed for the day – the last one-day strike saw at least a quarter of teachers walk out.

Primary school teachers (maternelle and elementary schools) are required to inform students and families at least 48 hours in advance of their intent to strike.

One of the major unions representing teachers, SNUipp-FSU said they expect at least 60 schools in the Paris region to close on Tuesday due to walkouts, and they said that they expect about half of teachers to strike on February 7th.

Demos 

Demonstrations are expected in cities and towns across the country.

The demonstration in Paris will begin at Place de la Bastille at 2pm and it will walk toward Place de l’Opéra. Roads will be closed along the route.

January 31st, the most recent day of large scale mobilisation, saw over 1.27 million people take to the streets according to the interior ministry. In Paris, the number of protesters was estimated at 87,000, higher than the 80,000 clocked last time, the ministry told AFP.

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TRAVEL NEWS

Reader question: What will EES mean for foreigners living in Europe?

The EU's new Entry & Exit System (EES) of enhanced passport controls is due to come into force later this year, but among many questions that remain is the situation for non-EU nationals who live in the EU or Schengen zone.

Published: 27 April 2024 07:59 CEST
Reader question: What will EES mean for foreigners living in Europe?

Currently scheduled to start in autumn 2024 (unless it’s delayed again, which is not unlikely) the EU’s new Entry & Exit System is basically an enhanced passport check at external EU borders, including a facial scan and fingerprinting.

You can find a full explanation of the new system HERE.

Travellers crossing an external EU or Schengen border for the first time will be required to complete EES ‘pre-registration’ formalities including that facial scan and fingerprinting.

There are, however, several groups exempt from EES and one of them is non-EU nationals who have a residency permit or long-stay visa for an EU country.

So if you’re a foreigner living in the EU or Schengen zone, here’s what you need to know.

Exempt

One of the stated aims of EES is to tighten up enforcement of over-staying – IE, people who stay longer than 90 days in every 180 without a visa, or those who overstay the limits of their visa.

Obviously these limits do not apply to non-EU nationals who are resident in the EU or Schengen zone, which is why this group is exempt from EES checks. They will instead be required to show their passport and residency permit/visa when crossing a border, just as they do now.

In its explanations of how EES will work, the European Commission is clear – exempt groups include non-EU residents of the Bloc.

A Commission spokesman told The Local: “Non-EU citizens residing in the EU are not in the scope of the EES and will not be subject to pre-enrollment of data in the EES via self-service systems. The use of automation remains under the responsibility of the Member States and its availability in border crossing points is not mandatory.

“When crossing the borders, holders of EU residence permits should be able to present to the border authorities their valid travel documents and residence permits.”

How this will work

How this will work on the ground, however, is a lot less clear.

Most ports/airports/terminals have two passport queues – EU and non-EU. It remains unclear whether the non-EU queue will have a separate section for those who are exempt from EES.

It does seem clear that exempt groups will not be able to use the automated passport scanners – since those cannot scan additional documents like residency permits – but should instead use manned passport booths. However it is not clear whether these will be available at all airports/ports/terminals or how non-EU residents of the EU will be directed to those services.

There’s also the issue that individual border guards are not always clear on the processes and rules for non-EU residents of the EU – even under the current system it’s relatively commonly for EU residents to have their passports incorrectly stamped or be given incorrect information about passport stamping by border guards.

Brits in particular will remember the immediate post-Brexit period when the processes as described by the EU and national authorities frequently did not match what was happening on the ground.

The Local will continue to try and get answers on these questions. 

READ ALSO What will EES mean for dual nationals

What if I live in the EU but I don’t have a visa/residency permit?

For most non-EU citizens, having either a visa or a residency permit is obligatory in order to be legally resident.

However, there is one exception: UK citizens who were legally resident in the EU prior to the end of the Brexit transition period and who live in one of the “declaratory” countries where getting a post-Brexit residency card was optional, rather than compulsory. Declaratory countries include Germany and Italy.

Although it is legal for people in this situation to live in those countries without a residency permit, authorities already advise people to get one in order to avoid confusion/hassle/delays at the border. Although EES does not change any rules relating to residency or travel, it seems likely that it will be more hassle to travel without a residency card than it is now.

Our advice? Things are going to be chaotic enough, getting a residency permit seems likely to save you a considerable amount of hassle.

Delays 

Although residents of the EU do not need to complete EES formalities, they will be affected if the new system causes long queues or delays at the border.

Several countries have expressed worries about this, with the UK-France border a particular cause for concern.

READ ALSO Travellers could face ’14 hours queues’ at UK-France border

Where does it apply?

EES is about external EU/Schengen borders, so does not apply if you are travelling within the Schengen zone – eg taking the train from France to Germany or flying from Spain to Sweden.

Ireland and Cyprus, despite being in the EU, are not in the Schengen zone so will not be using EES, they will continue to stamp passports manually.

Norway, Switzerland and Iceland – countries that are in the Schengen zone but not in the EU – will be using EES.

The full list of countries using EES is: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Therefore a journey between any of the countries listed above will not be covered by EES.

However a journey in or out of any of those countries from a country not listed above will be covered by EES.

You can find our full Q&A on EES HERE.

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