LATEST: How strikes will affect France this weekend
France is in the grip of ongoing strike actions against proposed pension reforms - from plane and train cancellations to fuel shortages and demos, here's what to expect this weekend.
As protests against the French government's planned pension reform continue, several sectors will be affected over the weekend of March 11th and 12th, and the weekend will also see more large demonstrations.
Tuesday marked the latest one-day strike which saw major disruption on services across France including trains and city public transport. Another one-day strike is planned for Wednesday, March 15th, but several unions have declared rolling strikes, which means that disruption continues.
Five minutes to understand French pension reform
Other workers are blockading fuel refineries, which is leading to fuel shortages at some filling stations.
You can find all the latest info on upcoming strike action in our strike section HERE and our strike calendar HERE
Here's what to expect this weekend;
Drivers
Workers belonging to the militant CGT union have been blockading fuel refineries since Monday with the intention of stopping deliveries of petrol/gasoline and diesel getting to filling stations.
The impact of this is beginning to be felt at service stations, with some reporting shortages - although the effects are worse in some areas than others.
MAP Where in France are blockades causing fuel shortages?
Flights
Ongoing strike action by air traffic controllers has led the French civil aviation authority to cancel numerous flights over the past week.
The cancellations continue into the weekend with Paris-Orly, Marseille, Toulouse, Nantes and Bordeaux airports seeing 20 percent of flights cancelled on Saturday.
On Sunday, 20 percent of flights are cancelled at Paris-Orly, Marseille and Toulouse. Other airports should function as normal, although knock-on disruption and delays to other flights is possible - flights going over French airspace may also be rerouted.
Trains
Rail unions are backing the rolling strikes, so services will remain disrupted on the French and international rail network.
Rail operator SNCF said on Friday afternoon that rail travel on all of their services this weekend will remain "strongly disrupted", and they recommend that people planning to travel cancel or postpone their trips.
Detailed information about how certain services will be affected will be available Friday evening on the SNCF website HERE, but the rail operator has said that it expects "similar levels of disruption" over the weekend to those seen on Friday, when only around one third of trains ran.
ℹ️ Sam. 11 et dim. 12 mars 2023, le trafic restera fortement perturbé sur l'ensemble de nos lignes : TRANSILIEN, TER, TGV (INOUI, OUIGO, international), INTERCITES. Si possible, nous vous recommandons d'annuler ou de reporter vos déplacements. 1/3
— SNCF Voyageurs (@SNCFVoyageurs) March 10, 2023
The disruption also affects international services like the Thalys and Lyria services to Belgium and Switzerland and the Eurostar.
In recent days, Eurostar has had most of its services between Paris and London operating normally, with some cancellations.
On Saturday, the 8:13 AM and 8:13 PM trains from Paris to London will both be cancelled, and on Sunday the 9:13 PM train from Paris to London will also be cancelled. You can find detailed information HERE.
Paris
Paris public transport returned largely to normal on Friday, with only a couple of Metro lines and the RER A and B lines seeing fewer than normal services. City transport bosses with the RATP say they expect this to continue over the weekend. It's worth noting that line 9 and line 14 will be closed on Sunday - although this is for pre-planned works, not because of strikes.
Lines 6 and 11 will be slightly disrupted on Saturday afternoon due to strike action - with line 6 running three trains out of every four, and line 11 running two trains out of every three.
Traffic on the RER A and B lines will be impacted on Saturday - RER A will run half of its normal services, and RER B will run two trains out of three on average.
Buses and tram services will operate normally.
[#MouvementSocial] À la suite d’un préavis appelant à une journée de grève interprofessionnelle le 11/03, la #RATP prévoit un trafic normal sur le Métro (à l’exception de quelques lignes), Bus et Tramway. Le trafic sera très perturbé sur le RER A et perturbé sur le RER B.⤵️ pic.twitter.com/3r1Kz9BUKQ
— RATP Group (@RATPgroup) March 10, 2023
Demos
Saturday is another 'day of action' when unions are calling for people to take to the streets to show their opposition to the reform - demos are planned for towns and cities across France with unions hopping to top the 1.2 million turnout on Tuesday.
In Paris the marchers will meet at 2pm at Place de la République with the exact route of the demo still TBC. It is likely that there will be road closures in place around Place de la République.
Here are some of the other demos planned
- Toulouse - 10.30am at St-Cyprien
- Nice - 10am at Gare de Nice
- Caen - 2.30pm at Rives de l'Orne
- Rennes - 2.30pm at Place de la Bretagne
- La Rochelle - 2.30pm at the station
- Montpellier - 2pm at Rives du Lez
- Bordeaux - 1.30pm at Place la Bourse
- Narbonne - 10am at Théâtre
- Nevers - two demos, one at 2pm leaving from the Medef offices on boulevard du Pré-Plantin (supported by the unions Unsa, FO and CFDT) and the other at the aérodrome roundabout (supported by CGT, CFTC, FSU, CGC and Solidaires)
- Sables-d'Olonne - 2.30pm in front of the entrance to Atlantes
- Fougères - 10.30am on Esplanade des Chaussonnières
- Lannion - 11am at Quai d'Aiguillon
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As protests against the French government's planned pension reform continue, several sectors will be affected over the weekend of March 11th and 12th, and the weekend will also see more large demonstrations.
Tuesday marked the latest one-day strike which saw major disruption on services across France including trains and city public transport. Another one-day strike is planned for Wednesday, March 15th, but several unions have declared rolling strikes, which means that disruption continues.
Five minutes to understand French pension reform
Other workers are blockading fuel refineries, which is leading to fuel shortages at some filling stations.
You can find all the latest info on upcoming strike action in our strike section HERE and our strike calendar HERE
Here's what to expect this weekend;
Drivers
Workers belonging to the militant CGT union have been blockading fuel refineries since Monday with the intention of stopping deliveries of petrol/gasoline and diesel getting to filling stations.
The impact of this is beginning to be felt at service stations, with some reporting shortages - although the effects are worse in some areas than others.
MAP Where in France are blockades causing fuel shortages?
Flights
Ongoing strike action by air traffic controllers has led the French civil aviation authority to cancel numerous flights over the past week.
The cancellations continue into the weekend with Paris-Orly, Marseille, Toulouse, Nantes and Bordeaux airports seeing 20 percent of flights cancelled on Saturday.
On Sunday, 20 percent of flights are cancelled at Paris-Orly, Marseille and Toulouse. Other airports should function as normal, although knock-on disruption and delays to other flights is possible - flights going over French airspace may also be rerouted.
Trains
Rail unions are backing the rolling strikes, so services will remain disrupted on the French and international rail network.
Rail operator SNCF said on Friday afternoon that rail travel on all of their services this weekend will remain "strongly disrupted", and they recommend that people planning to travel cancel or postpone their trips.
Detailed information about how certain services will be affected will be available Friday evening on the SNCF website HERE, but the rail operator has said that it expects "similar levels of disruption" over the weekend to those seen on Friday, when only around one third of trains ran.
ℹ️ Sam. 11 et dim. 12 mars 2023, le trafic restera fortement perturbé sur l'ensemble de nos lignes : TRANSILIEN, TER, TGV (INOUI, OUIGO, international), INTERCITES. Si possible, nous vous recommandons d'annuler ou de reporter vos déplacements. 1/3
— SNCF Voyageurs (@SNCFVoyageurs) March 10, 2023
The disruption also affects international services like the Thalys and Lyria services to Belgium and Switzerland and the Eurostar.
In recent days, Eurostar has had most of its services between Paris and London operating normally, with some cancellations.
On Saturday, the 8:13 AM and 8:13 PM trains from Paris to London will both be cancelled, and on Sunday the 9:13 PM train from Paris to London will also be cancelled. You can find detailed information HERE.
Paris
Paris public transport returned largely to normal on Friday, with only a couple of Metro lines and the RER A and B lines seeing fewer than normal services. City transport bosses with the RATP say they expect this to continue over the weekend. It's worth noting that line 9 and line 14 will be closed on Sunday - although this is for pre-planned works, not because of strikes.
Lines 6 and 11 will be slightly disrupted on Saturday afternoon due to strike action - with line 6 running three trains out of every four, and line 11 running two trains out of every three.
Traffic on the RER A and B lines will be impacted on Saturday - RER A will run half of its normal services, and RER B will run two trains out of three on average.
Buses and tram services will operate normally.
[#MouvementSocial] À la suite d’un préavis appelant à une journée de grève interprofessionnelle le 11/03, la #RATP prévoit un trafic normal sur le Métro (à l’exception de quelques lignes), Bus et Tramway. Le trafic sera très perturbé sur le RER A et perturbé sur le RER B.⤵️ pic.twitter.com/3r1Kz9BUKQ
— RATP Group (@RATPgroup) March 10, 2023
Demos
Saturday is another 'day of action' when unions are calling for people to take to the streets to show their opposition to the reform - demos are planned for towns and cities across France with unions hopping to top the 1.2 million turnout on Tuesday.
In Paris the marchers will meet at 2pm at Place de la République with the exact route of the demo still TBC. It is likely that there will be road closures in place around Place de la République.
Here are some of the other demos planned
- Toulouse - 10.30am at St-Cyprien
- Nice - 10am at Gare de Nice
- Caen - 2.30pm at Rives de l'Orne
- Rennes - 2.30pm at Place de la Bretagne
- La Rochelle - 2.30pm at the station
- Montpellier - 2pm at Rives du Lez
- Bordeaux - 1.30pm at Place la Bourse
- Narbonne - 10am at Théâtre
- Nevers - two demos, one at 2pm leaving from the Medef offices on boulevard du Pré-Plantin (supported by the unions Unsa, FO and CFDT) and the other at the aérodrome roundabout (supported by CGT, CFTC, FSU, CGC and Solidaires)
- Sables-d'Olonne - 2.30pm in front of the entrance to Atlantes
- Fougères - 10.30am on Esplanade des Chaussonnières
- Lannion - 11am at Quai d'Aiguillon
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