Europe 1 10:20 p.m., December 20, 2022
Due to a social movement by the skippers, train traffic will be disrupted during the Christmas weekend throughout France.
This Tuesday, in a press release, the SNCF gave the details of the traffic forecasts between Thursday and next Monday.
Not all regions will be in the same boat.
The Christmas weekend promises to be difficult for SNCF users.
Train traffic will be disrupted from December 22 to 26 due to a strike initiated by the controllers.
At midday, Christophe Fanichet, the CEO of SNCF Voyageurs was counting on "at least 2 out of 3 trains" in circulation next weekend.
This Tuesday, in a press release, the SNCF published its detailed traffic forecasts for the TGV, Ouigo and Intercités.
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Thus, travelers to the east of the country will be among the least affected by this movement since 3 out of 4 trains should run on this axis.
Same thing for the TGV Lyria which provide services to Switzerland.
3 Ouigo out of 4 are also planned.
As for high-speed trains to Germany, they will not be affected by these disruptions.
The same goes for the daytime Intercités but only on Friday 23 December.
Their traffic will be slightly disrupted during the weekend (3 out of 4 trains).
For TER, forecasts communicated the day before
On the LGV Atlantique and Méditerranée, which are among the busiest in the network, it will be necessary to count 2 trains out of 3 on average during the period.
Identical forecasts for TGV InOui between France and Italy.
On the other hand, the situation is complicated for users of the line heading north, with the exception of the Paris-Lille link.
Only 1 out of 2 trains will be maintained, as on the high-speed line between France and Spain.
For TGVs connecting two provincial towns, 1 out of 2 trains will also be removed.
Image credit: SNCF
Finally, traffic will be almost normal on the Thalys and the Eurostar, with the exception of Monday 26 December due to the strike by the British RMT union.
It should also be noted that no night Intercity will run on the night of December 24 to 25.
For the TER, the transport plans will be detailed in each region the day before at the end of the day.
Image credit: SNCF
The SNCF press release also confirms the possibility for travelers to exchange their ticket free of charge and to obtain a “100%” refund of it if the train were to be cancelled.
"We did everything to avoid this strike. We can understand that there are demands from the captains, but not a strike for the Christmas holidays when the French need a vacation", regretted Christophe Fanichet.