Gare Montparnasse, dozens of travelers are queuing this Wednesday in front of the main line train shop, in the hope of finding a travel solution for the Christmas weekend. With the controllers’ strike scheduled for this weekend, several TGVs have already been cancelled. Only two out of three trains will run this weekend, according to the overall estimate of the SNCF, which must provide new details for the days of Saturday and Sunday. “Our Friday train has been cancelled. Our children have already gone on vacation and for the moment we cannot join them for Christmas,” says Katia. She hopes to be allowed to board an overbooked train or to be offered another route solution by SNCF staff to find her children this weekend.
This Wednesday, the CEO of SNCF Voyageurs, Christophe Fanichet, announced on France Info that travelers whose train was canceled this weekend due to the strike would benefit from a 200% refund of their ticket. An unsatisfactory measure for some of these travelers, who would prefer to arrive at their destination for the holidays. “Even if it is reimbursed, we cannot go home. The planes are full, we can’t take the car. My mom goes back to work on Monday, so if we can’t get home, I don’t know what we’re going to do. “says Anaïs, a student, accompanied by her mother who came to visit her in Paris.
At the store, Nassima and her two children were offered a rather expensive alternative. On vacation in the capital, they were to return to their home in the Toulouse region this weekend. “We were offered a system where we would get off at another station to take another train to go back down to Toulouse. And that’s over 200 euros more. So I have to think about it…” before adding, “might as well tell you that the priority is no longer the holidays or Christmas, it’s just getting home. »