SNCF announced on Wednesday that train traffic would be “slightly disrupted” for departures during the Christmas holidays this weekend, with “twenty TGVs removed” on Friday, due to a strike by signalmen at the call from Sud-Rail. “At the national level, around twenty TGVs out of a total of 700 in circulation on Friday will be abolished”, indicated to the SNCF, which provides for a “normal or almost normal service” for the TGVs East, North and South, and “nearly 9 trains out of 10 insured” for the TGV Atlantique, “including two trains out of three for the links between Paris and Bordeaux”, due to the conflict of the signalmen, but also to a local movement of the drivers.
SNCF signalmen operate the network: without them, the trains cannot run. They demand better recognition of their profession and an improvement in their working conditions. The drivers’ strike on the TGV Atlantique axis is the initiative of an inter-union bringing together CGT-Cheminots, Unsa-Ferroviaire, SUD-Rail and CFDT-Cheminots.
Christmas weekend strikes?
The SNCF also provides for almost normal traffic of intercity trains and possible disruptions for the Transilien and TER. The unions denounce the shortages of personnel which deteriorate the working conditions of the drivers and criticize the choice of the management to reduce the number of training courses.
The SNCF invites travelers to consult their usual information tools to check the circulation of their trains, the day before at 5 p.m. For the rest of the holidays, the controllers also filed strike notices covering the Christmas and New Year weekends, which ongoing negotiations had not made it possible to lift at this stage.