The strike by SNCF controllers continues on Saturday February 17 in the middle of the winter holidays and with only one in two TGVs in circulation, affecting a total of 150,000 travelers, according to the company.
This weekend sees the first returns from zone C (Paris, Montpellier and Toulouse) but also departures from zone A (Lyon, Bordeaux, Dijon, etc.).
Train traffic is “strongly disturbed” from Thursday 8 p.m. and until Monday 8 a.m., warned the SNCF. Someone “850,000 French people will finally be able to go on vacation”But “I regret that 150,000 French people will not be able to leave”car “they have not necessarily found solutions”Christophe Fanichet, CEO of SNCF Voyageurs, explained on Friday on BFM-TV.
The service is reduced by half on the TGV InOui and Ouigo lines, as well as for the Intercités. The company announces traffic “normal” for classic Ouigo trains and ” disturbed “ for European connections, such as Eurostar. Traffic is better on local lines with “on average, 8 TER out of 10”.
The customers concerned were all notified by email or SMS, assures the SNCF.
Increase in trains on the Atlantic axis expected on Sunday
Priority was given to connections to the Alps, where trains were full in both directions, according to the company. On the other hand, certain lines are more affected, such as Paris-Bordeaux, where both levels of trains are canceled.
There should be more trains on the Atlantic axis from Sunday, announced the boss of the TGV Atlantique, Franck Dubourdieu, to Agence France-Presse. If some customers change their ticket to travel on Monday, “we will be able to transport everyone”he assured Friday.
On the routes, the axes dependent on the ski resorts should be particularly congested throughout the day in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (A40, A43), according to Bison futé. In Ile-de-France, traffic is expected to be heavy on the A6 motorway in the return direction between early afternoon and mid-evening.
And strike-related disruptions could also come “reinforce the traffic difficulties expected this weekend on the entire road network”a smart Bison warning.
The Blablacar platform observed a “doubling of demand for reservations” for carpooling and buses since the announcement of the SNCF transport plan on Wednesday. Blablacar announced on Friday that it planned to add additional journeys for “meet demand”notably from Paris to Rennes, Toulouse and Marseille, and that there were still carpooling places.
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Despite everything, the strike did not lead to chaos at the stations, with travelers taking the lead by giving up their trips, changing their tickets or switching to other modes of transport.
