SNCF strike: traffic in the Ile-de-France region still disrupted on Tuesday, with traffic on the 8 May bridge expected

After an already complicated Monday , rail traffic will remain disrupted on Tuesday in the Ile-de-France region due to a call for a strike by SNCF employees launched by the CGT-Cheminots union to demand salary measures and better anticipation of schedules , SNCF Voyageurs announced early Monday evening, May 5.

The most disrupted lines will be the RER C, with every other train running, as on Transilien lines N and V, the suburban trains in the Paris region. On the RER B, there will be every other train running on the northern part of the line, and two out of three on the southern part, operated by RATP. On the RER D, there will be four out of five trains running compared to usual. Finally, two other Transilien lines will be disrupted: the U, with two out of three trains, and the H, with four out of five trains.

On all other lines, traffic will be normal . For this second day of strike action, all long-distance trains will also run normally.

Several categories of staff were called to strike starting Monday by the CGT-Cheminots and SUD-Rail unions to demand higher pay and better planning of schedules, which they say are too often changed at the last minute. For the May 8 bank holiday, an influential collective of controllers called the Collectif national ASCT (CNA) joined the call for action, giving it momentum.

But this Monday in Occitanie, few disruptions were attributed to the strike. TGV and Intercités trains were running normally at midday, and TER liO trains were showing "8 out of 10 runs […] with a combination of trains and buses," according to SNCF voyageurs Occitanie.

In the Hauts-de-France region, only the TER trains in the Nord and Pas-de-Calais regions were affected, according to the SNCF, which announced that "just over one in three trains" would continue to run. Passengers were informed of these disruptions as early as 3 p.m. on Friday "so that they could plan ahead of the weekend departure," the SNCF said.

SNCF Voyageurs also plans to notify all of its customers on Tuesday whether or not their trains will be running for the May 8 bank holiday. " We are far from a black week , there will be no week of closure, but a week as normal as possible," promised SNCF Voyageurs CEO Christophe Fanichet on Sunday. "TGV services will be normal from Monday, May 5 to Thursday, May 8," he said, and most trains will run on May 9, 10, and 11.

In addition to promising to transport everyone by train, Christophe Fanichet has committed to "ensuring that all customers are notified before leaving [for the weekend, editor's note] regarding their return train." "That is to say, they must be notified before the start of the long weekend on Wednesday for services until Sunday, May 11," he explained.

He also stated that all tickets are "exchangeable, refundable, free of charge" on both TGV Inoui and Ouigo trains for the week of May 5 to 11.