Avis to travelers who have to make the Paris-Bordeaux connection on Monday 24 January. A signalmen’s strike in New Aquitaine will seriously disrupt rail traffic in the south-west of France on Monday, with, in particular, the cancellation of 85% of TGVs between Paris and Bordeaux and “very disrupted” regional traffic. SNCF announced on Friday. The SNCF will ensure the circulation of five direct TGV round trips between Paris and Bordeaux, or approximately 15% of the planned offer, “for customers who absolutely need to travel that day” by train. “All travelers who can are invited to postpone their trip to another date,” said a spokesperson for SNCF Voyageurs.
The call to strike was launched by the CGT-Cheminots and the Unsa-Ferroviaire to demand better management of career endings and measures to ensure staff loyalty, said Unsa. The signalmen, who are employees of SNCF Réseau, are also demanding an increase in their work bonus, while employees of SNCF Voyageurs received a bonus of 600 euros at the end of last year. “People from the Network are also asking for it because Voyageurs does not run its trains on its own,” Didier Mathis, secretary general of Unsa-Ferroviaire, told Agence France-Presse.
No TGV will run south of Bordeaux, towards Hendaye and Toulouse. With regard to Intercités, the service will also be “very disrupted” with only two round trips between Toulouse and Marseille on the Bordeaux-Marseille line, two Toulouse-Bayonne round trips and no Nantes-Bordeaux train. The Paris-Orléans-Limoges-Toulouse train and the Paris-Rodez/Toulouse and Paris-Latour de Carol/Lourdes night trains will run normally, the spokesperson said.
Ticket exchange possible
The TGV Inoui, Ouigo and Intercités customers concerned will be notified and will be able to exchange their ticket or get a refund, he added. The TER transport plan in New Aquitaine is to be published later, but SNCF Réseau is already announcing “strong disruptions” on the lines between Bordeaux and Hendaye, Tarbes, Agen, Arcachon, Périgueux, Angoulême, Nantes, as well as on the lines Hendaye-Tarbes, Poitiers-La Rochelle and Poitiers-Angoulême. Connections between TER and main lines will not be guaranteed.
The signalmen’s strike is scheduled for Sunday 7 p.m. to Tuesday 8 a.m., but traffic should be “almost normal” Sunday evening. “Extensive negotiations were held. Despite the proposals made by SNCF Réseau, the notice has not been lifted, “said SNCF Réseau in a press release, saying that it wished” the continuation of the dialogue “.
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