18h31 – SNCF: strike and breakdown disrupt departures on vacation

The CGT-SUD strike against the railway reform and a signaling failure north of Paris disrupted Friday the SNCF traffic and the first major departures on summer holidays, pending a new day of strike already planned by the CGT Thursday, July 19.

This strike of two unions, which will continue on Saturday, comes as the law of rail reform was promulgated on June 28. This text abolishes hiring as a railway employee (as of January 1, 2020), transforms SNCF into a public limited company and organizes the opening to competition (from December 2019). Points of the reform remain to be written, notably in the national collective agreement of the railway sector.

In addition to the disturbances due to the strike – eight TGV and TER out of ten in circulation, two Intercity trains out of three – a signaling failure mid-day resulted in significant train delays between the Gare du Nord in Paris, the north of France, the Benelux and England, announced the SNCF, which provided for a gradual return to normal by At the beginning of the evening.

If the problem was solved towards 13:00, the trains always posted in the middle of the afternoon delays from 40 minutes to 2:30, told AFP a spokesperson of SNCF, adding that the delays mainly concerned Thalys and Eurostar.

For Saturday, the SNCF provides for eight TGV and TER out of ten, as well as seven Intercity trains out of ten on average. All travelers with reservation "have been recontacted in recent days by SMS or email" and "the tickets remain refundable and exchangeable without additional cost," said the SNCF.

But Jacques Canuti, 75, has "no portable "and therefore" did not receive a "cancellation message. This retired boilermaker, sitting Friday morning near a huge suitcase at the Part-Dieu station in Lyon, had to "go to the station to change (his) ticket". Departing for a stay in Corsica, he considers the strike "normal" because "they defend their steak."

In total, there were 6.5% of strikers in the group Friday morning, according to management. With 22.4% of drivers on strike. On June 28, the last day of the unitary strike at four unions, the overall rate of strikers reached 10.3%, with 36.2% of drivers mobilized. Unsa and the CFDT, the two other representative organizations at the SNCF, decided not to strike during the summer holidays.

– "Fortunately, there are the buses" –

For the continuation , the CGT announced the color Friday morning: next strike on July 19, the day of the "first meeting with employers" to negotiate the collective agreement. There will be other dates in August and "probably" in September because this movement will have "no end point until we have the guarantees we ask from the beginning", explained on Laurent Brun Cnews , Secretary-General of the CGT Cheminots

"For us, the battle is far from over", Philippe Martinez, the number one of the CGT, added on Radio Clbadique.

For its part, SUD "will consult its structures on Monday during a teleconference.The decision to register or not in this action (July 19, ed) decided unilaterally by the CGT will be taken at the end, "said AFP Fabien Dumas, secretary federal government of SUD-Rail.

Deploring "a strike that is useless" since "the law is promulgated", the Minister of Transport Élisabeth Borne called the unions "to the reason". The French must be able to "leave serenely on vacation," she said.

"Fortunately there are buses, they make their butter," noted Jeannine Robert, a retired traveler whose train at departure from Lyon Part-Dieu was "30 minutes late" Friday morning.

Martine, badagenarian grandmother, came to get her granddaughters at the station of Lille-Europe to take them to Savoy. "Our TGV is good but we hope that it will go for the TER between Lyon and Chambéry." If this ex-civil servant "understood at the beginning" the strike movement, "now, she says, that's enough!"