Ahe day after the 10th day of national mobilization on Tuesday, the disturbances will continue to exist in certain sectors this Wednesday, to protest against the pension reform. Thus, SNCF is still impacted, despite a slight improvement in traffic conditions, some airports will also be affected, as will refineries. The garbage collectors of Paris will put a break on their strike. Here is an overview of the disruptions to expect.
- 4 out of 5 TGVs insured by SNCF
The SNCF plans on Wednesday for an improvement on the main lines, the TER and the Paris suburbs, with in particular 4 out of 5 TGVs in circulation, on the 23rd day of a renewable strike against the pension reform.
SNCF Voyageurs plans to maintain 80% of its TGV Inoui and Ouigo on Wednesday, two-thirds of its Intercités and three-quarters of its TER, a spokesperson told Agence France Presse on Tuesday. Night trains will timidly start running again and traffic will be “almost normal” on the Eurostar and Thalys.
READ ALSOProtests: Are we heading for a drone war?
- In Ile-de-France, transport is gradually resuming its pace
On the Ile-de-France rail network, train traffic will improve markedly, lines C, D, L and R remaining the most disrupted with 2 trains out of 3. The management also plans to run 3 trains out of 4 on average on its part of RER A – as well as the RATP on its part – and on line N. It provides for 4 trains out of 5 on line H. The service will be normal, or almost, on RER B and E, as well as on lines J, K, U, T4, T11 and T13, the P line having a more or less disturbed service depending on the branches. Still in Ile-de-France, traffic should be normal on the RATP network, except for the RER A.
- Refineries still blocked
The situation in the refineries should not settle this Wednesday. On Tuesday, less than 7% of service stations were dry. The most affected department is now Mayenne (50% of stations in shortage of at least one fuel). The southern departments are still among the most affected, in particular Haute-Garonne (41%) and Bouches-du-Rhône (39%). Shortages are beginning to reach Ile-de-France, in particular Val-de-Marne (44%) and Essonne (37%).
At TotalEnergies, the Normandy refinery is shut down. The employees voted to renew the strike until Thursday 1:00 p.m., according to a CGT delegate. At the Donges refinery (Loire-Atlantique), shipments are interrupted, according to management. Same thing at the La Mède biorefinery (Bouches-du-Rhône), where shipments remain blocked.
At Esso-ExxonMobil, the shutdown of the Port-Jérôme-Gravenchon refinery (Seine-Maritime) continues and shipments were still blocked Tuesday morning, according to management. Concerning the Fos-sur-Mer refinery, it continues to operate in an “adjusted” manner, shipments having made it possible to avoid a production stoppage due to full tanks. The PetroIneos refinery in Lavéra (Bouches-du-Rhône) is still shut down and its shipments blocked, according to the CGT.
“No requisition is in progress in the depots and refineries at this time”, specified around 4 p.m. this Tuesday the Ministry of Energy Transition.
READ ALSOPensions: in Bordeaux, protesters tired but still motivated
- 20% of flights canceled at several airports
The administration had asked the airlines to cancel preventively Tuesday and Wednesday 20% of their flights to Paris-Orly, Marseille, Toulouse and Bordeaux. She reiterated her request for around 20% of flights on Thursday (from Orly, Marseille, Toulouse) and Friday (from Orly, Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse).
Beyond airports, work stoppages by air traffic controllers affect en-route air navigation centers (CRNA, management of aircraft transiting through French airspace), with repercussions for all European traffic.
READ ALSOSeriously injured in Sainte-Soline: what we know about the emergency response
The management of EDF reported reductions in production operated by the strikers on Tuesday morning, of the order of 8,030 MW, or the equivalent of eight nuclear reactors (out of the 56 in the country). The group had 21.5% of strikers at midday, a decline in participation compared to March 23 at midday (25.3%). On the gas side, the strike was renewed “until the end of the week” in all three LNG terminals of Elengy, a subsidiary of Engie.
At Storengy, another subsidiary of Engie which manages underground gas storage, three of the eleven storage sites in France are shut down according to the CGT, which refers to the sites of Chémery (Loir-et-Cher), Céré- la-Ronde (Indre-et-Loire) and Beynes (Yvelines).
The fourth LNG terminal in France, managed by the Belgian group Fluxys, should resume service on Wednesday morning, after a 24-hour strike.