The SNCF controllers’ strike which began on the evening of Thursday February 15 is expected to last throughout this weekend of holidaymakers. Major disruptions are expected on the TGV lines, even if journeys to ski resorts will be preserved. Three out of four controllers are on strike Friday and for the entire weekend, according to SNCF.
A million travelers were normally expected for this weekend on the SNCF lines. Eventually, “850,000 French people will be able to go on vacation”but “I regret that 150,000 French people will not be able to leave”lamented the boss of SNCF Voyageurs, Christophe Fanichet, on Friday evening, conceding: “We are not there. »
Train traffic is “strongly disturbed” from Thursday 8 p.m. and until Monday 8 a.m., warned the railway operator. The service is reduced by half on the TGV InOui and Ouigo lines, as well as for day and night Intercités.
He must be ” normal “ for classic Ouigo trains and ” disturbed “ for European connections, such as Eurostar. Traffic should be much less disrupted on local lines. It must be for example “normal” on the TER Burgundy, “disturbed” in Nord-Pas-de-Calais, and “slightly disturbed” on the Marseille-Toulon axis, according to regional sites.
For the following weekend, February 24 and 25, the SNCF did not receive “no information which would allow us to say that traffic will be degraded”declared Alain Krakovitch, director of TGV-Intercités (TGV InOui, Ouigo, Intercités, Europe) on TF1. “What we owe our customers first is an apology”he estimated. “Many French people are prohibited from leaving or returning from vacation in peaceful conditions. »
“All territories will be irrigated by TGV, but not all French people will be able to travel”warned Christophe Fanichet, the boss of SNCF Voyageurs, traveling to Lyon on Thursday. “The priority is to favor trains that are full and, in February, these are the trains from the Alps”, he added. The connections to and from these ski resorts where the wagons were full should therefore all be ensured.
More than 60% of trains canceled on the Paris-Bordeaux line
On the other hand, certain lines will be more affected, such as Paris-Bordeaux, where more than 60% of trains are canceled, according to France Bleu.
Customers, who were informed Wednesday by SMS and email, are strongly encouraged to postpone their trip. Those whose train is canceled will be able to exchange their ticket free of charge, or have the entire price refunded. The carrier is also offering a 50% discount on the next trip to affected customers, thanks to a code sent ” automatically “ And “within a month”.
The striking unions believe that the crisis exit agreement negotiated at the end of 2022, following a strike on the Christmas weekend, is slow to be implemented. They also demand a renegotiation of the agreement on the end of career. “The company’s commitments which were made in December 2022 are being met”particularly on additional positions, replied the boss of SNCF Voyageurs.
This social movement, launched by an informal collective of controllers, relaunched the debate on the right to strike during certain periods. “The strike must be the ultimate weapon”but she is “become an instrument of negotiation”, noted the President of the Senate Gérard Larcher, who says he is in favor of measures to supervise these social movements. A text from the senatorial right prohibiting notices around public holidays and on “the first two and the last two days” school holidays is already under study.
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The Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, deplored, for his part, “a form of habit, to [chaque fois que des vacances] arrive, to have the announcement of a strike movement » railway workers. “The French know that the strike is a right”but “also that working is a duty”he said Wednesday.