The disruption to rail traffic caused by the surprise strike action that began last night after an SNCF staff member was attacked should ease by early afternoon on Friday. The Ile-de-France region has been spared the "baggage drop" by ticket inspectors - a right of withdrawal in the event of a threat to their safety - which has hit the rest of France hard. The North and South East are the areas most affected. Guillaume Pépy, Chairman of the SNCF, says that one in three or even four trains on the TGV and TER networks is affected. The strike by ticket inspectors follows the attack on a ticket inspector who was stabbed several times by a mentally unstable person on the Lyon-Strasbourg line.
