REPORTAGE
The day after a surprise and unprecedented movement in its progress, some agents of the SNCF are again asserting their right of withdrawal Friday. An action taken after the accident of a TER occurred Wednesday in Champagne-Ardenne. Difficult to have accurate forecasts from the railway company because no strike notice was filed. The only certainty: all Ouigo trains are canceled, announced the management Friday night.
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Friday, on the eve of the school holidays, the traffic was very disturbed. Notably on the TER network but also on several lines in the Paris region. Gare de Lyon in Paris, several children who were to be supported by "Junior and company", a provider of SNCF specialized in accompanying minors during their train journeys, were stuck.
"We can understand the social movement, but there are provisions to take"
"It's crying kids, missed vacations and our private lives are being hurt," says exasperated Julie. Like her, many parents found themselves completely helpless when they left their children in the hands of "Junior and Company". Their trains were canceled and impossible to find a place until next Wednesday. Only consolation: the possibility of being reimbursed. An inadequate option for Sarah, mother of a seven-year-old boy, who was to join her dad for the holidays. "A social movement can be understood, but there are provisions to take!", She explains. "In this case, the users are children, for me it is inadmissible!"
In order not to deprive the children of part of their holidays, but also because several parents had no means of guarding, it was necessary to organize themselves ... even between strangers. An improvised carpool was therefore set up with Elisabeth as driver, grandmother of two little boys who had to take the train. "It's a big responsibility, but it's an arrangement that comes after a crisis, we need to have solidarity in situations like that," she says at the microphone of Europe 1.
What delight children who have become friends during these long hours of waiting. "We managed to find a solution, that's the most important," says one of them. But this option is not necessarily very accommodating, because now, it will have to face the possible traffic jams.