TESTIMONIALS – System D, ticket redemption, mutual aid… The social movement forces travelers to review their organization at the last minute.
«I have to celebrate Christmas alone in Grenoble far from my family because I have just received an email from the SNCF telling me that my train has been canceled“Laments Clara. While in the collective imagination the end-of-year celebrations rhyme with magic and reunions with loved ones, many French people risk finding themselves at the dock. In question, a new SNCF strike at this time of year. This time, it is the controllers who are demanding in particular a salary increase with the support of Sud Rail and the CGT-Cheminots. The railway group anticipates that 200,000 people should not be able to board their train, or one in four people. Clara, who hoped to find her relatives in Paris, will be one of them.
Since Tuesday morning, the news has fallen like a cleaver with a simple message: “Your train is canceled due to a social movement…Little additional information and no help. What arouse the ire of the main concerned. “It really is : “sorry but manage”,” plagues Eva, 24. The young civil servant had booked a Paris-Nantes a month and a half ago for Christmas Eve. Tuesday morning, the message from the SNCF came to upset his plans. “We learn it at the last minute and in addition they do not offer any alternative solution», gets carried away by Alice, a 28-year-old management controller, who says to herself «disgusted».
Read alsoSNCF: this collective of controllers which threatens the TGVs at Christmas
For the castaways of the rail, it is now necessary to find an alternative. Mission impossible, while this period is already naturally tense. “All other trains are full. FlixBus are overpriced, as are rental cars“, worries Eva. As a result, the French are multiplying D systems and mutual aid to cope. “I had to go to Rennes, finally I’m going to Granville an hour away by car and I have family coming to pick me upexplains Alice, who still considers herself lucky. After several fruitless attempts, a friend of Eva suggested an original solution to her: “I watched the TERs. Instead of Paris-Nantes, I do Paris-Le Mans then Le Mans-Nantes. I extend my journey by three hours, but at least I arrive at my destination», Details the young woman, who is surprised that the SNCF Connect application did not offer her this solution.
SEE ALSO – Strike at the SNCF: only two out of three trains will run over the Christmas weekend
No trains, no refunds
As if these difficulties were not enough, the reimbursement system is Kafkaesque. “It’s amazing, there is no automatic refundgets carried away Alice, we have to stuff ourselves with procedures when the problem comes from them!“. Same misadventures for Sophie, a 36-year-old nurse whose mother and her companion had to go to Lyon from Picardy. To cancel the outward journey (already suppressed by the strikes), this mother of a seven-month-old baby was forced to cancel the return trip, without knowing why. She did try to take back a ticket, but the prices rose to 292 euros against 170 initially. “And we still don’t know if we’ll be reimbursed“, she storms.
This umpteenth social movement, in a particularly sensitive period, even makes those who have supported the railway workers falter: “I understand the right to strike, but we feel anger at the time of the news and when we see that there is no solution“, recognizes Max, 26, employee in the communication. “I am a civil servant, I understand the strikers but this is really painful”, asked Eva.
Read alsoSNCF, all-category champion of strikes in France
This three-day social movement will particularly impact the TGVs. For Friday, two out of three should run on the Atlantic and Mediterranean axes, and one in two trains on the North axis; the Paris Lille shuttle will however be almost normal. Three TGV Est out of four will run. Three Ouigo out of four should also circulate. The Intercités should have normal traffic conditions. While details are not yet known for Saturday and Sunday, traffic will be about the same as Friday,”with a slightly degraded scenario“, announced Alain Krakovitch, director of TGV-Intercités.
Travelers be warned: difficulties are bound to recur. A strike notice has been filed with the SNCF for the New Year weekend. And for the future, the pension reform and the social mobilizations it will generate, particularly within the railway group, are already on the horizon…
SEE ALSO – France, champion of strikes?