SNCF strikes to heavily disrupt train travel in France on Wednesday

Strikes called by four train unions representing SNCF workers will cause heavy disruption to train travel around France this Wednesday (July 6).

The unions are demanding negotiations over salaries.

The strikes will mean cancellations of around a quarter of France’s high-speed TGV trains while only around 40% of regional TER trains will be circulating. Train lines in Paris and the Ile-de-France region will also be severely disrupted.

The strikes come just one day before France’s annual school summer holidays, which begin on Thursday (July 7).

Read more: What’s coming up? The week ahead in France

SNCF has recommended holidaymakers cancel or delay their trips and has suggested people who usually commute to work from home if possible.

Those who have booked train tickets for this Wednesday should be notified of any cancellations or delays in advance.

TGVS

Only three in five TGVs and TGV Inouis will be operating in the east of France, while three quarters will still be operating in the north and along the western Atlantic coast.

In the south east, around four in five trains will still be in operation.

SNFC has said that TGVs could be affected as early as this evening with disruptions potentially continuing until Thursday morning.

Intercités

Intercité trains will also be affected with only around 33% still running.

SNCF is also predicting that only 50% of trains will still be in operation on the routes Paris-Limoges-Toulouse and Paris-Clermont, while only 33% of trains will be running between Bordeaux and Marseille.

There will be no trains on the routes: Nantes-Bordeaux, Nantes-Lyon, Toulouse-Hendaye and Clermont-Béziers.

In terms of night trains, only the Paris-Nice line will run.

Regional and Ile-de-France trains

The regional TER trains will be affected “in all regions,” SNCF has stated, predicting that on average there will only be two in five still running normally.

In Ile-de-France, only 50% of trains will run on RER lines B, C, D and E. Line A will be as normal.

On the Transilien network, only 50% of trains will run on lines J, L, N, R and U and only 33% will run on lines H and P. The Transilien K will run as normal.

Trams in Paris could also be affected.

Bottlenecks on roads this Saturday

French road traffic monitor Bison Futé does not predict the disruption to trains to affect road traffic but is warning against extremely heavy traffic this Saturday (July 9), the first weekend of the school summer holidays.

Traffic is expected to be extremely heavy on the A10 from Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines heading towards Bordeaux and on the same road between Orléans and Tours.

It will also be very busy heading south on the A7 between Lyon and Orange.

Traffic across the country will in general be particularly heavy with roads in the east of the country notably congested.

For more information, see Bison Futé’s previsions here and a more detailed breakdown here.

More flight disruption this weekend

More flights in and out of Paris could be cancelled this weekend (July 9-10) as airport staff continued strikes relating to demands for higher salaries.

The strikes will impact flights at Paris Charles de Gaulle and Orly.

The strikes could be continued the following weekend as well, unions have warned.

Read more: New strike calls for Paris airports in July

Read more: More transport strikes, beach buses: Seven France travel updates

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