Another “dark day” to be expected for users of Ile-de-France transport. The RATP and the SNCF unveiled this Sunday their traffic forecasts for this Tuesday, January 31, where a national mobilization is planned at the call of the unions to protest against the pension reform and the postponement of the legal age of departure.
After a first day of mobilization on January 19 which had largely disrupted traffic, this Tuesday promises to be very difficult. Clément Beaune, the Minister of Transport, said earlier this Sunday that a “difficult or even very difficult day” was to be expected for travel. The RATP “invites all travelers who have the possibility to favor teleworking or to postpone their trips on the network that day”.
Indeed, in the metro, many lines will only be open at peak times and with slow traffic. Between 7:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., count one in three trains to line 7 and 7 bisone in four trains for 12 o’clock and every other train for the 9.
Other lines will only be open for a part, at peak times and with a reduced number of trains. The ligne 3 will be open from Pont de Levallois – Bécon to Havre – Caumartin, with one in three trains. The ligne 5 will be open from Bobigny – Pablo Picasso to Gare du Nord, with one in three trains. The much borrowed ligne 8 will be open from Créteil – Pointe du Lac to Reuilly – Diderot, with one in three trains. 11 must be open from Belleville to Mairie des Lilas, with one train out of three in the morning and one train out of five in the afternoon. For line 13, it will be accessible from Saint-Denis University / Les Courtilles (Asnières) to Invalides, with one train out of three.
For the ligne 6, it will be open from Nation to Denfert-Rochereau only during extended peak hours (6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.), with one train out of three. More complicated for ligne 10 with one out of three trains on the whole line, but only in the morning. The line 3 bis will be closed. Details could be given on Monday, on the eve of the movement.
The lines 1 and 14 (until 10 p.m. for the latter) they will circulate normally, with a risk of congestion. For line 4, the RATP provides 1/2 train at peak times and 1/4 train at off-peak hours with risk of saturation. For the ligne 2count every other train between 5:30 a.m. and 8 p.m.
One in three trains for RER A and B
From the side give buses and tramways, the RATP predicts that traffic will be slightly disrupted on the surface network with eight out of ten buses. The same for trams.
On the RER, it is planned to maintain one train out of three for the RER A (1/2 train at peak times and 1/4 at off-peak hours, interconnection at Nanterre maintained) and RER B (1/2 train at peak times and 1/3 at off-peak hours, interconnection suspended at Paris Nord station, change of train at Paris Nord station).
It will be much more complicated for RER C, D and E. On the C, no traffic is planned between Invalides and Pontoise/Saint-Quentin en Yvelines/Versailles Rive Gauche. For RER D users, the interconnection between Châtelet and Gare de Lyon is suspended, there will be no trains between Châtelet and Gare de Lyon.
For the Jumping overcount one train out of three for lines H and U, one train out of four for line K and only one train out of ten for lines J, L, N, P and R (no traffic between Melun and Montereau via Héricy).
SNCF traffic very seriously disrupted
SNCF plans to maintain only one out of three TGVs (InOui and OUIGO) at the national level. On the northern axis, there will be 2/5 InOui, 1/2 for the eastern axis, 1/4 on the Atlantic axis and 1/2 for journeys to and from the southeast. Two out of five OUIGOs will circulate. For travel between regions, the SNCF anticipates 1/3 TGV.
Intercités traffic will be very severely degraded with no traffic planned, except for a round trip for the Paris-Clermont, Paris-Limoges-Toulouse and Bordeaux-Marseille lines. The Intercités will not run overnight from Monday to Tuesday but also from Tuesday to Wednesday. Only two out of ten TERs will run, the SNCF inviting users to find out about the SNCF application and the TER site. For international trains, if the Eurostar and the Thalys should experience almost normal traffic, it will be severely disrupted for Lyria trains and with 1/4 train for other links abroad.
Galvanized by the success of their first mobilization against the pension reform, the unions are calling for new massive demonstrations, but the Prime Minister was firm this Sunday on the postponement of the retirement age which is “no longer negotiable “. “It is no longer negotiable, retirement at 64,” said Élisabeth Borne on Franceinfo.
“This is the compromise that we proposed after having heard the employers’ and trade union organizations, after having exchanged with the various parliamentary groups (…) It is necessary to ensure the balance of the system”, she explained in margin of a visit to his constituency of Calvados. The examination of the bill must begin this Monday in committee.