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Transport chaos in France as strike drags on

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PARIS: Travellers face further disruptions in France as a more than three-week-old rail strike continues despite the Christmas holiday.


Dozens of metro stations remained closed in Paris on Thursday, the capital’s transport authority RATP said. Two fully automated lines were running. Seven other lines were operational in the morning and evening rush hours, RATP added.


Only about half of the high-speed TGV trains were expected to run as scheduled on Thursday, state rail company SNCF warned.


This is an improvement on Wednesday, when only one in three scheduled TGV trains was running.


The ongoing industrial action across France has severely disrupted rail travel.


Hundreds of thousands of people travelling to and around France over the holidays have been affected by the strikes. A pause in the strike action wished for by President Emmanuel Macron’s government never materialised, and the tourism and retail sectors felt the pinch.


SNCF hopes the situation will ease up by the weekend.


The French government is expected to meet again with union negotiators on January 7.


Weeks-long protests and strikes against Macron’s pension reforms have created massive disruptions for rail traffic across the country and for local transport in Paris.


Macron’s centrist government has pushed the reforms in order to do away with 42 different pension schemes and replace them with a points-based system. — dpa


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