The SNCF is seeking reassurance in the face of the strike planned for this week, which will culminate in the 8 May bank holiday. A strike by ticket inspectors was added this weekend to the initial call for strike action announced by the CGT and Sud Rail unions over pay and the organisation of timetables several months in advance. "We estimate that we will have a train to bring back all our customers on Sunday." says a confident Jean-Pierre Farandou, CEO of the SNCF group. Since Monday, the strike has already had an impact on Transilien traffic in the Ile-de-France region and on some TER trains in the rest of France.
No one left behind
In detail, the TGVs should display near-normal traffic levels on Wednesday and Thursday in the outbound direction. The situation is more uncertain thereafter, with the ASCT controllers' collective having called a strike for 9, 10 and 11 May. However, Jean-Pierre Farandou declares that " 90% trains should be running this weekend "and that no one will be left stranded" . Minimising the impact of the strike, he confided this morning that there would only be 20% strikers on Ouigo services.
The CEO is therefore urging passengers not to cancel their tickets over this crucial weekend for his company's business. Every customer will be informed whether or not their train is running on both the outward and return journeys. However, some passengers may have to take a different train on Sunday from the one originally booked on their ticket. As a precaution, SNCF had announced that all TGV Inoui and Ouigo tickets would be exchangeable and refundable free of charge for the entire week of 5 to 11 May.
Volunteer employees to replace controllers
At a press briefing this morning on the forecourt of Gare Montparnasse, Alain Krakovitch, Director of TGV-Intercités, explained that ". if a TGV is cancelled, passengers will be informed no later than Wednesday morning with the possibility of repositioning free of charge on another train on the same day and to the same destination" . He added "qhere will be variations depending on the day and the destination" . However, it is still too early to say which services will be most affected by the strike.
Alain Krakovitch explains that, in recent years, SNCF has trained office-based managers to take on this role, and they have volunteered this weekend in return for a bonus. In the end, customers who are affected by the cancellation of their TGV will benefit, within one month, from a discount voucher50% to be used on a future trip between now and 29 August 2025.
