With 285 confirmed cases in the country, the coronavirus epidemic continues to develop in France. And all companies are preparing for new measures and possible blockages. For its part, the SNCF is preparing for the worst, such as limitations or stops in transport.
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SNCF is currently working on several scenarios. One of the most extreme would be to limit daily trains in Île-de-France to only one train per hour. "With 800 railroaders, we could do it when it normally takes 15,000 railroaders to provide traffic every day," said people around the management.
SNCF wants to protect potential volunteer employees
SNCF warns that the priority will be to overprotect voluntary workers who would agree to work on these lines with masks and wipes. As it is a priority enterprise, the railway company has a little stock. Thus, on the service to Creil - a city where several cases have been detected - the teams already have this equipment.
Each morning, the boss of the SNCF personally leads a telephone meeting at 8:30 am to take stock. But in view of the situation, the SNCF management is very clear: the right of withdrawal, which allows an employee to invoke a serious risk for his health, and thus not to take up his post, is not at all justified at the moment.