An agreement reached on the first day of the strike? Good news… or almost. The SNCF announced this Friday, as the controllers’ walkout began, that an agreement had been reached with the unions. Negotiations began Thursday evening, continuing into the night and into the early morning. And yet, that does not change the disruption for this weekend: the canceled trains will remain so.
“If the disturbances will remain unchanged for this weekend, this agreement allows the lifting of strike notices with the aim of a return to normal in the very next few days and in particular for the weekend of the 1st of An “, specifies the SNCF in a press release, published in the morning. The government had put pressure on the company in recent hours to prevent the next weekend from being “ruined” as well.
Traffic still disrupted this weekend
The SNCF, which planned for this Friday two out of three TGVs in circulation, plans three out of five for this weekend. According to data retrieved by Le Parisien, more than 800 trains have already been canceled, the vast majority of which on Saturday and Sunday. If nothing should change much despite the agreement reached, it is that only the strike notice for the New Year has been lifted by the unions, not the one for Christmas which runs until Monday. A thousand captains declared themselves strikers, according to the SNCF.
Asked about the possibility of having canceled trains which finally circulate, thanks to an agreement, the Minister of Transport, Clément Beaune, had replied upstream this Friday that this could “happen marginally”. It is indeed impossible for the SNCF to set up a traffic plan at the last minute, especially since this would require mobilizing staff at short notice. And the minister summarized: “The galley of this weekend, it is there. And that’s not going to fundamentally change. »