SNCF strike: almost normal traffic expected this Sunday, new mobilization expected in June

SNCF expects minor disruptions this Sunday, May 11, with more than nine out of ten TGV trains in France, for the last day of the ticket inspectors' strike during the May 8 bank holiday weekend . Traffic is "little disrupted" this weekend, according to a spokesperson for the SNCF group's communications department. "Transilien (Paris suburban trains), TER (regional trains) and Intercités (regional trains) ran normally and traffic was 96 % normal on the TGVs on Saturday. We expect the same thing on Sunday," the same source said.

The strikers' turnout, which was "very strong" on Saturday, is expected to "drop a little on Sunday," according to the SUD-Rail union. "On Saturday, the TGV ticket inspectors were over 60 % on strike, with peaks in the Southeast at over 66 %. And we're at around 50 % on the TER trains," said Fabien Villedieu of SUD-Rail. Despite this turnout—the SNCF also forecast a strike rate of over 60% on Saturday—the public group had assured that all passengers would be able to "travel to their destination on the scheduled day."

The SUD-Rail union and a collective of controllers called the Collectif national ASCT (CNA) have called for a strike on May 9, 10, and 11 to demand an increase in their work bonus and better anticipation of schedules, which they say are too often changed at the last minute.

Most trains are able to run thanks to the deployment of volunteers, company managers, who have received special one-day training to replace striking train controllers.

For SUD-Rail, this is not enough to explain the low traffic disruptions: "The SNCF sought to make the strike invisible by imposing a degraded transport plan, with single TGV units of 500 people instead of the usual double trains during peak periods, which require more controllers," according to Fabien Villedieu.

At the beginning of May, SNCF Voyageurs CEO Christophe Fanichet indicated that he had "already had thousands of fewer reservations for the May 8th bank holiday" in anticipation of the strike. Claiming to have "given social dialogue every chance" with "more than 35 meetings," he pledged to "provide clarity on the weekly rest periods for TGV train managers, at six months instead of three," but ruled out a pay increase.

SUD-Rail is expected to provide an update "early next week" on the possible follow-up to the movement.

Earlier this week, a drivers' strike called by the CGT-Cheminots, the main union at the SNCF, caused disruptions on regional lines in several regions such as Hauts-de-France and Ile-de-France.

According to SNCF Voyageurs, "around nine out of ten TER trains will have been running in France [during this strike], and around eight out of ten Transilien trains, with disparities depending on the region or line."

The CGT-Cheminots union has already planned a continuation of the mobilization: it has called for a strike on June 4 for drivers, on the sidelines of a round table devoted to the bonus they receive, on June 5 for all categories of railway workers, with demands relating to salaries or the improvement of working conditions, and on June 11 for controllers.