Geoffrey Branger / Photo credit: Nicolas Guyonnet / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP 10:15 a.m., February 16, 2024
Only one train in two is in circulation this weekend, due to the SNCF controllers' strike. Many French people have seen their trains cancelled, and are trying to find alternatives to get to their vacation spot. Bus, rental car, carpooling... how do the French organize themselves?
At least 70% of controllers on strike until Monday 8 a.m. and only one in two trains in circulation... A difficult weekend for thousands of French people who saw their trains canceled. Some therefore try to find other ways to get to their vacation spot. Car rental, carpooling, bus... alternatives exist but the specialized sites have been taken over in recent days, and there may not be places for everyone.
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Louise was supposed to leave Paris this Friday evening, heading to Avignon, but she had to change her program with the cancellation of her train. “I was disgusted, I looked for BlaBlaCar except that they are overrun, I looked at planes, except that it costs 450 euros, so I turned to the bus,” explains She. “It’s much longer, I’m going to do 10 hours on the bus, I paid 150 euros, so it’s also much more expensive than my train which was normally 50 euros,” breathes Louise.
Bus journeys taken by storm
A significant effort, but no question of giving up this vacation in the south, with his family. “It’s my mother’s 60th birthday, it’s really a family moment that happens once every ten years so it’s impossible to cancel, if I had to, I would have taken a plane ticket for 500 euros, I would have rented a car or I would have gone on foot if necessary, but it was not possible to miss it,” she insists.
Not everyone will be lucky enough to find an alternative like Louise: for this weekend, most bus trips are full, regardless of the destination.