Strikes to disrupt TGV and TER trains in France this week
Several mid-week services across the country will be cancelled as unions call for company-wide action on pay
Strike action is set to affect TGV and TER trains this week, SNCF has announced, with plans to offer refunds or fee-free exchanges for affected services
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Disruption is expected tomorrow (Wednesday, December 7) for TGV, Intercités, and TER trains in France as workers go on strike as part of annual pay negotiations.
Unions CGT-Cheminots, SUD-Rail, and the CFDT are launching “unified action” on the first day of the annual salary negotiations, to put pressure on management, SNCF said.
The unions are calling on all SNCF workers to strike, with demands including a general pay rise, improved recognition of length of service and depth of expertise, a real ‘13th month’ bonus, and for the average 1.4% salary increase given in July to be applied retroactively from January.
This is expected to cause disruption on:
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TER services in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Grand Est, Occitanie, and Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur, and in Ile-de-France on the lines C, D, E and N.
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TGV and Intercités especially from Paris-Lyon, some of which are set to be cancelled due to local action from SNCF Réseau workers
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TGV services in the south of Bordeaux
Refunds or fee-free exchanges
Travellers with tickets booked on affected services will receive an email or SMS in case their train is cancelled.
SNCF has said that it will reimburse passengers for these journeys, or offer them a fee-free exchange to transfer to another service that is still running, if there is still availability.
It comes just days after strike action caused up to 60% of TGV and Intercités trains to be cancelled last weekend. Ticket inspectors (contrôleurs) working for the SNCF went on strike on December 2-4, with only three quarters of services back up and running yesterday (December 5).
Other forms of transport may also be affected by action. French EasyJet cabin crew are still threatening strike action over Christmas, as are staff from Air France and Ryanair.
Read more: Air France, EasyJet, Ryanair: Christmas strike threats multiply
UK Eurostar security workers have also warned that services may be “severely affected” by pay strikes in the days running up to Christmas.
Read more: UK Eurostar security workers to strike in lead-up to Christmas
French rail signal workers unions have also issued a strike notice for December 15-19, with grievances including understaffing and salaries judged to be insufficient. Talks are still ongoing, however, so the strike may be averted.
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