France strikes: Severely limited transport services on New Year's Day

The mass transportation strikes have been running since December 5th, and with talks between the government and the unions not set to restart until January 7th, they look unlikely to be resolved soon.

The issue at stake is the French pension system - the government wants to bring in a major overhaul which it says will make the system fairer and more transparent, but which unions fear will leave people working longer for smaller pension pots. 

READ ALSO What are the chances of a deal between the French government and striking workers?

So the usually reduced services available on a public holiday will be even more severely reduced on the first day of 2020 in France.

Here's a look at what is running:

In Paris services on the city's RATP public transport network will be very severely limited. Throughout the strike, transport chiefs have opted to sacrifice the weekends - particularly Sundays - so they can concentrate the resources they have on running commuter lines.

January 1st follows the pattern of a typical strike Sunday with eight Metro lines - lines 3, 3bis, 4, 7, 7bis, 10, 11 and 12 - closed completely.

 

Lines 1 and 14 - which are automated - are running as normal while the other lines are all offering limited services with fewer than normal trains, limited running times and many stations, particularly connecting stations, closed.

Line 8 is running from 9.30am to 5.30pm, line 2 is running from 9am until 12 noon, line 5 is running from 7am to 10am and then 1.30pm to 5.30pm, line 6 is running from 2pm to 6pm, line 9 is running from 1pm to 5.30pm and line 13 is running from 9.30am to 12 noon.

The trams are running largely as normal - all lines are running all day, lines 1, 3b and 7 are described as 'quasi normal' while the rest are running as normal.

On the RER suburban trains there are fewer services than normal and RER B - which connects Paris to its two airports - is running all day but with a limited service.

On the buses three quarters of the normal services are running.

On the railways around a quarter of the normal services are running overall.

 

One third of the normal high speed TGV services and the same level of the budget Ouigo services are running. A quarter of suburban Transilien services are running, four in 10 of the usual service on the local TER lines and just one in 10 of the normal Intercité services.

French rail operator SNCF has also published in advance its services for Thursday, January 2nd, which show a slight improvement.

On Thursday half the normal TGV services will run and three fifths of the normal Ouigo routes.

There will be three in 10 of the normal Transilien routes, a quarter of the Intercités and half the normal TER services.

There are no flight disruptions listed and Eurotunnel's Le Shuttle service is running as normal. International train routes such as Eurostar are affected by the train disruption, and Eurostar has already published a reduced timetable on its website, running until January 8th.

Looking ahead to the weekend of January 4th and 5th - which is expected to be a busy travel weekend as people return from holidays to restart work on Monday - SNCF says it is expecting to be able to run two thirds of its normal services.

Full details will be published on Friday, but the weekend is also expected to be a busy one on the roads, as many people have already made alternative travel arrangements.

In good news though, a strike by pilots and air crew that had been planned to start on January 3rd has now been called off.