Strike disrupts St Lazare trains

SUBURBAN train services in and out of Saint Lazare station in Paris are disrupted today due to an indefinite strike by a rail union.

Half of trains linking the capital with Versailles, Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche, Noisy-le-Roi and Maisons-Lafitte have been cancelled.

The routes out to the north and west suburbs of Paris are used by 200,000 passengers a day normally - about 100,000 a day during the holiday period.

The Sud Rail union has called the strike to protest against changes to the work status of conducteurs de manœuvre - drivers responsible for shunting empty trains between the platforms and the depot.

The union says these staff should be paid the same as those driving ordinary passenger trains - a €16 a day difference backdated over five years.