French rail boss says '90 percent' of trains will run despite strike
The head of SNCF, Jean-Pierre Farandou, told French radio station France Inter on Tuesday morning that "this weekend, we'll be close to 90 percent of trains running".
After negotiations on pay and working conditions broke down, several unions had filed strike plans for the period between May 5th and May 11th, which includes the VE Day public holiday in France.
Many French residents had planned to use this as an opportunity to
faire le pont
or create a long weekend for themselves, leaving prospective travellers worried about the status of their departure (or return) during the holiday weekend.
What to expect for this weekend
"Regarding TGV trains, we are quite confident that all departures will go well, as there is almost no strike disruption expected for Wednesday and Thursday. Service will be almost normal (
quasi-normal
)," Farandou told France Inter.
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"For return journeys - due to the strike action by conductors - will we have as many trains available as possible. We will keep all customers informed, and they will know if their train is running (...) There will be a train for everyone on Sunday, though it may not be the exact train you planned on taking.
"No one will be left stranded on the platform," Farandou told the
French radio station
, adding that for those travelling via the budget service OuiGo, "only 20 percent of conductors are planning to walk out".
Rail bosses had already informed the public that TGV (high-speed) trains were expected to run normally from Monday to Thursday, with most trains running from Friday to Sunday.
Regarding regional train services - the TER and Transilien trains - Farandou said "It will depend on how the strike action evolves, but the strike action has mainly been centred on the high-speed TGV InOui services.
"We are very hopeful that strike action on regional train networks will end soon. I am very confident those services will go back to normal quickly," Farandou told France Inter.
Thus far, local TER services have been more affected by strike action at the start of the week, although the majority of services are running. Worst affected is the RER and Transilien services in the greater Paris region.
Update: What to expect from this week's French strikes
All customers affected by strike action have been told that their tickets are "exchangeable and refundable free of charge" for both TGV InOui and Ouigo trains throughout the week.
We will continue updating
this article
with the latest information about French rail strikes. You can also keep an eye on our
strike section
.
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