“Warned in advance”Where ” lucky “travelers passed between the drops of the strike of the SNCF controllers took their train to Marseille on Saturday, Christmas Eve, more serene after an agreement between the management and the unions.
“I tried a little bit to organize the trip, to track down the emails (for information from the SNCF, editor’s note) and we are trying to have a good New Year’s Eve”tells AFP, on the forecourt of Saint-Charles station in Marseille, Pascale Caronne, before taking a train to Lille with her son and her husband.
After the cancellation of one in three trains on Friday, 40% of TGVs were canceled on Saturday and Sunday on the South-East and East axes. On the North and Atlantic routes, the proportion rises to 50%. One in three Ouigo and a quarter of the Intercités have also been removed, according to the SNCF.
“I took the tickets at the last minute”explains this 56-year-old woman according to who to wait for him “allowed to have more information” to choose the right train.
“I sent all the gifts to Strasbourg”: these users who had to cancel Christmas because of the SNCF strikes
Understanding of users
Since Tuesday, the railway company had undertaken to warn all travelers of the cancellation or continuation of their journey. If, on Saturday, the feeling of having been lucky prevailed among travelers assured of being able to take their train at Marseille station, in some cases, annoyance was still rising.
“They did their job (of information), now we are waiting for the return. Normally it should be good”recognizes Gérard Pollet, 52, who considers himself, with his wife, “lucky compared to others”. They were notified on Wednesday that their train had been maintained.
“I understand the ‘struggle’ and I also understand the overwhelmed users who want to rejoin their families”explains Félix Deloux, brother of a 28-year-old railway worker who admits to being “often struggling to get home” from Marseille to the north of France.
“For my part, I have always been lucky. Maybe I should play the lotteryhe quips when all the trips he had to make over the Christmas weekend between Marseille, Paris, Normandy and Strasbourg have been maintained.
Reimbursement at double the amount
An evening of negotiations on Thursday made it possible to find a solution to the conflict initiated by a group of controllers outside the unions, leading to the lifting of the strike notice for next weekend by the unions, which did not, however, call for a strike.
But for Christmas, it’s too late: the trains being prepared several days in advance, they could not be rescheduled overnight.
Canceled tickets will be able to be reimbursed for six months at double the initial amount, in vouchers. In total, the cost of the strike should amount to a hundred million euros for the SNCF, according to the Minister Delegate for Transport Clément Beaune.
Observing “spontaneous movements that are created very suddenly on social networks” and claims that “concern above all a need for consideration”Clément Beaune judged in an interview with the JDD necessary “to listen more attentively within public companies and (…) to think about social alert systems, internal negotiations within the company”.
