Roads, airports and stations blocked by unions as France faces more pension strikes
Thursday marked the latest day of mass strikes and demos in ongoing protests against pension reform, and also saw union activists block roads, stations and Paris' main airport.
On Thursday morning, union activists blocked access to Terminal 1 at the Paris - Charles de Gaulle airport, while around a hundred demonstrators blocked the railroad tracks at the Gare de Lyon train station in Paris for several hours during the morning.
Other blockades have taken part on ring roads around French cities, including Lille and Caen. In Lille, around 40 people mobilised to block traffic at the Porte d'Arras entrance, and in Caen, the Cours Montalivet, one of the entrances to the city of Caen, located between the port and the SNCF station.
Around 200 demonstrators blocked the exit road of the A1 autoroute that links Paris to Lille.
The road blockades come after unions launched 'Operation port mort' to block access to ports at Le Havre and Rennes on Wednesday.
The blockades came as part of the latest one-day strike in France in the ongoing dispute over pension reform.
On Thursday afternoon around 200 demos were getting underway in towns and cities around France - unions are hoping to equal last week's turnout of an estimated 1.2 million demonstrators.
Here's how services are impacted by the Thursday strike.
Airports
France’s civil aviation authority, the Direction générale de l'Aviation civile, has instructed airlines to cancel 30 percent of flights in and out of Paris-Orly and 20 percent of flights in and out of Lyon, Marseille and Toulouse due to air traffic controllers striking.
Those cancellation figures are up from Tuesday and Wednesday, when 20 percent of flights to and from Paris-Orly and Marseille-Provence were grounded.
READ ALSO Strike calendar - the French pension strike dates to know
Railways
SNCF has warned that its services “will be severely disrupted” and recommended that travellers should cancel or postpone any scheduled trips if possible on Thursday, adding that the disruption will continue into Friday whether or not any further action is taken.
It said that one in two Inoui and Ouigo TGV services would run on Thursday, while regional RER services would operate at one-third usual capacity, on average. Intercités' trains will run only between Paris and Clermont and Paris and Brive. No other day or night services will operate.
SNCF will issue updated information about Friday's services by 5pm on Thursday.
READ ALSO Will pension strikes affect the Easter holidays in France?
You can listen to John Lichfield talk about the political crisis engulfing France in our new Talking France podcast on Spotify, Apple or Google podcasts. Download it HERE or listen on the link below.
City transport
Cities across France expect widespread disruption to public transport services throughout the day.
In the south, Marseille will see both metro lines disrupted. The M1 will run with delays, and the M2 will not run between 12pm and 5pm. Trams will also be delayed, and the T3 will not run at all throughout the day.
In Lyon, metro lines are not expected to be disrupted, but some bus routes will be affected by the march, such as the C4, C7, C10, C11, C12, C16 and C20. Trams will operate with delays. In Bordeaux, several bus lines will be affected, such as lines 12, 29, 31 and 42. Otherwise, tram services may experience some delays but will otherwise operate according to usual schedules
Paris public transport operator RATP has said that 80 percent of buses and 90 percent of trams will run on Thursday. About half of RER services will run on lines A and B, but the RATP has warned that the Metro will be “very disrupted”.
Only the fully automated lines 1 and 14 will run normal schedules.
Line 2: 1 train in 3 running. Services running 5.30am -10am and 4.30pm - 8pm only. The station Barbès-Rochechouart will be closed.
Line 3: 1 train in 3. Services running 5.30am -11am and 4.30pm - 7.30pm; The stations République, Opéra and Havre- Caumartin (after 2pm) will be closed.
Line 3bis: no trains will run on this line.
Line 4: 3 trains in 4 running in the morning, 2 trains out of 3 in the afternoon, normal in the evening. Due to automation work, the line will close at 10.15pm; Stations Simplon, Strasbourg-Saint-Denis, Saint Placide, Alésia, and Barbara will be closed.
Line 5: 1 train in 3. Services running 5.30am - 9.30am and 4.30pm - 7.30pm only; Bastille station will be closed.
Line 6: 1 train in 3. Services running 5.30am - 8pm;
Line 7: 1 train in 2; Station Chaussée d'Antin La Fayette will be closed after 2pm.
Line 7bis: 1 train in 2;
Line 8: 1 train in 3 between Reuilly Diderot and Créteil Pointe du Lac and between Balard and Concorde only, between 6am-10am and 4pm-8pm;
Line 9: 1 train in 2; Stations such as Bonne Nouvelle, Grands Boulevards, Richelieu Drouot will be closed.
Line 10: 1 train in 2 between 6.30am - 9.30am only;
Line 11: 2 trains in 3 between 6am-11am and 1 train out of 3 between 4.30pm-7.30pm; Stations such as Jourdain, Pyrénées, Rambuteau and Hôtel de Ville will be closed.
Line 12: 1 train in 3 from 5.30am - 9.30am and 2 out of 3 trains between 4.30pm - 8pm;
Line 13: 1 train in 2 in the morning, 1 train in 3 in the afternoon. Services only between 5.30am and 8pm.
Line 14: traffic will be normal, but due to planned works the line will close at 10pm.
[#MouvementSocial] À la suite d’un préavis appelant à une journée de grève interprofessionnelle le jeudi 23 mars, la #RATP prévoit un trafic très perturbé sur les réseaux RER et Métro. Le trafic sera quasi normal sur les réseaux Bus et Tramway. ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/JvDEkEs5X1
— RATP Group (@RATPgroup) March 21, 2023
RER
RER A: 1 train out of 2. The connection maintained at Nanterre prefecture. Auber station will be closed.
RER B: 1 train out of 2. The connection will maintained at Gare du Nord. The last train to leave Châtelet will be around 11pm.
RER C: 1 train out of 3.
RER D: 2 trains out of 5 on average. The connection will be maintained between Châtelet and Gare de Lyon.
RER E: 1 train out of 5 on average.
Transilien
Line K: 1 train will run out of 2, but trains will not run outside of peak hours.
Lines H, J, L, N, P and U lines: 1 train out of 3 will run.
Line R: 2 trains out of 5 will run on average. Trains will only run during rush hour between Gare de Lyon and Montargis/Montereau via Moret.
READ ALSO Should you cancel a trip to France because of strikes and demos?
Fuel shortages and driving
Because of the public transport strikes, commuters should expect heavier traffic levels on main routes in and out of cities on Thursday.
Refinery workers will continue with their strikes and blockades until Thursday at 9pm, at which point workers will vote on whether or not to renew the strikes.
As of Thursday morning, about 17.9 percent of service stations across France were experiencing shortages, with the strongest impacts felt in the west and south of the country, namely in the Bouches-de-Rhône département which contains Marseille.
The French energy ministry has begun issuing requisition orders to force striking oil workers to release gasoline and diesel for service stations, which are running dry because of a lack of deliveries in some parts of the country.
MAP Where in France are blockades causing fuel shortages
On Thursday morning at 7:45am, the French road information website, Sytadin, reported that the Paris region had around 290 km of traffic jams.
Traffic was particularly difficult on the A15 towards Paris between Eragny and Gennevilliers.
Schools
In a pattern replicated across the country, the SNUipp-FSU union has warned that as many as 140 of Paris’s 645 primary schools will remain closed on Thursday, and predicted 70 percent of school staff in the capital would join the strike. It will be the second highest number of closures since 172 schools stayed shut for the walkout of January 18.
According to France régions, several high schools in Brittany had their entrances blocked on Thursday morning.
Refuse collection
The government has begun forcing striking refuse collectors in Paris back to work using requisition laws, however local officials estimate that it will take up to two weeks to clear the estimated 9,000 tonnes of rubbish from the capital's streets.
Demos
Marches and demos will take place in towns and cities around France. In Paris, the march begins at 2pm at Place de la Bastille and heads to Opéra - there will be road closures along the road.
In Rennes, the procession will meet at the Place de Bretagne at 11am, and in Lyon it will start at the Manufacture des Tabacs in the 8th arrondissement at 11am as well.
As for Marseille, the march will start at 10:30 am at the Old Port, walking toward the Porte d'Aix. In Bordeaux, the demo will begin at 12pm at Place Tourny.
On Wednesday night, more spontaneous protests occurred across the country, some were particularly tense. In Lyon, several hundred people took to the streets, leading to clashes with police, projectiles being thrown and garbage cans burned.
One protester was reportedly hit in the face by a projectile - local authorities in Lyon said the cause of the injury was still unknown as of Thursday morning.
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On Thursday morning, union activists blocked access to Terminal 1 at the Paris - Charles de Gaulle airport, while around a hundred demonstrators blocked the railroad tracks at the Gare de Lyon train station in Paris for several hours during the morning.
Other blockades have taken part on ring roads around French cities, including Lille and Caen. In Lille, around 40 people mobilised to block traffic at the Porte d'Arras entrance, and in Caen, the Cours Montalivet, one of the entrances to the city of Caen, located between the port and the SNCF station.
Around 200 demonstrators blocked the exit road of the A1 autoroute that links Paris to Lille.
The road blockades come after unions launched 'Operation port mort' to block access to ports at Le Havre and Rennes on Wednesday.
The blockades came as part of the latest one-day strike in France in the ongoing dispute over pension reform.
On Thursday afternoon around 200 demos were getting underway in towns and cities around France - unions are hoping to equal last week's turnout of an estimated 1.2 million demonstrators.
Here's how services are impacted by the Thursday strike.
Airports
France’s civil aviation authority, the Direction générale de l'Aviation civile, has instructed airlines to cancel 30 percent of flights in and out of Paris-Orly and 20 percent of flights in and out of Lyon, Marseille and Toulouse due to air traffic controllers striking.
Those cancellation figures are up from Tuesday and Wednesday, when 20 percent of flights to and from Paris-Orly and Marseille-Provence were grounded.
READ ALSO Strike calendar - the French pension strike dates to know
Railways
SNCF has warned that its services “will be severely disrupted” and recommended that travellers should cancel or postpone any scheduled trips if possible on Thursday, adding that the disruption will continue into Friday whether or not any further action is taken.
It said that one in two Inoui and Ouigo TGV services would run on Thursday, while regional RER services would operate at one-third usual capacity, on average. Intercités' trains will run only between Paris and Clermont and Paris and Brive. No other day or night services will operate.
SNCF will issue updated information about Friday's services by 5pm on Thursday.
READ ALSO Will pension strikes affect the Easter holidays in France?
You can listen to John Lichfield talk about the political crisis engulfing France in our new Talking France podcast on Spotify, Apple or Google podcasts. Download it HERE or listen on the link below.
City transport
Cities across France expect widespread disruption to public transport services throughout the day.
In the south, Marseille will see both metro lines disrupted. The M1 will run with delays, and the M2 will not run between 12pm and 5pm. Trams will also be delayed, and the T3 will not run at all throughout the day.
In Lyon, metro lines are not expected to be disrupted, but some bus routes will be affected by the march, such as the C4, C7, C10, C11, C12, C16 and C20. Trams will operate with delays. In Bordeaux, several bus lines will be affected, such as lines 12, 29, 31 and 42. Otherwise, tram services may experience some delays but will otherwise operate according to usual schedules
Paris public transport operator RATP has said that 80 percent of buses and 90 percent of trams will run on Thursday. About half of RER services will run on lines A and B, but the RATP has warned that the Metro will be “very disrupted”.
Only the fully automated lines 1 and 14 will run normal schedules.
Line 2: 1 train in 3 running. Services running 5.30am -10am and 4.30pm - 8pm only. The station Barbès-Rochechouart will be closed.
Line 3: 1 train in 3. Services running 5.30am -11am and 4.30pm - 7.30pm; The stations République, Opéra and Havre- Caumartin (after 2pm) will be closed.
Line 3bis: no trains will run on this line.
Line 4: 3 trains in 4 running in the morning, 2 trains out of 3 in the afternoon, normal in the evening. Due to automation work, the line will close at 10.15pm; Stations Simplon, Strasbourg-Saint-Denis, Saint Placide, Alésia, and Barbara will be closed.
Line 5: 1 train in 3. Services running 5.30am - 9.30am and 4.30pm - 7.30pm only; Bastille station will be closed.
Line 6: 1 train in 3. Services running 5.30am - 8pm;
Line 7: 1 train in 2; Station Chaussée d'Antin La Fayette will be closed after 2pm.
Line 7bis: 1 train in 2;
Line 8: 1 train in 3 between Reuilly Diderot and Créteil Pointe du Lac and between Balard and Concorde only, between 6am-10am and 4pm-8pm;
Line 9: 1 train in 2; Stations such as Bonne Nouvelle, Grands Boulevards, Richelieu Drouot will be closed.
Line 10: 1 train in 2 between 6.30am - 9.30am only;
Line 11: 2 trains in 3 between 6am-11am and 1 train out of 3 between 4.30pm-7.30pm; Stations such as Jourdain, Pyrénées, Rambuteau and Hôtel de Ville will be closed.
Line 12: 1 train in 3 from 5.30am - 9.30am and 2 out of 3 trains between 4.30pm - 8pm;
Line 13: 1 train in 2 in the morning, 1 train in 3 in the afternoon. Services only between 5.30am and 8pm.
Line 14: traffic will be normal, but due to planned works the line will close at 10pm.
[#MouvementSocial] À la suite d’un préavis appelant à une journée de grève interprofessionnelle le jeudi 23 mars, la #RATP prévoit un trafic très perturbé sur les réseaux RER et Métro. Le trafic sera quasi normal sur les réseaux Bus et Tramway. ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/JvDEkEs5X1
— RATP Group (@RATPgroup) March 21, 2023
RER
RER A: 1 train out of 2. The connection maintained at Nanterre prefecture. Auber station will be closed.
RER B: 1 train out of 2. The connection will maintained at Gare du Nord. The last train to leave Châtelet will be around 11pm.
RER C: 1 train out of 3.
RER D: 2 trains out of 5 on average. The connection will be maintained between Châtelet and Gare de Lyon.
RER E: 1 train out of 5 on average.
Transilien
Line K: 1 train will run out of 2, but trains will not run outside of peak hours.
Lines H, J, L, N, P and U lines: 1 train out of 3 will run.
Line R: 2 trains out of 5 will run on average. Trains will only run during rush hour between Gare de Lyon and Montargis/Montereau via Moret.
READ ALSO Should you cancel a trip to France because of strikes and demos?
Fuel shortages and driving
Because of the public transport strikes, commuters should expect heavier traffic levels on main routes in and out of cities on Thursday.
Refinery workers will continue with their strikes and blockades until Thursday at 9pm, at which point workers will vote on whether or not to renew the strikes.
As of Thursday morning, about 17.9 percent of service stations across France were experiencing shortages, with the strongest impacts felt in the west and south of the country, namely in the Bouches-de-Rhône département which contains Marseille.
The French energy ministry has begun issuing requisition orders to force striking oil workers to release gasoline and diesel for service stations, which are running dry because of a lack of deliveries in some parts of the country.
MAP Where in France are blockades causing fuel shortages
On Thursday morning at 7:45am, the French road information website, Sytadin, reported that the Paris region had around 290 km of traffic jams.
Traffic was particularly difficult on the A15 towards Paris between Eragny and Gennevilliers.
Schools
In a pattern replicated across the country, the SNUipp-FSU union has warned that as many as 140 of Paris’s 645 primary schools will remain closed on Thursday, and predicted 70 percent of school staff in the capital would join the strike. It will be the second highest number of closures since 172 schools stayed shut for the walkout of January 18.
According to France régions, several high schools in Brittany had their entrances blocked on Thursday morning.
Refuse collection
The government has begun forcing striking refuse collectors in Paris back to work using requisition laws, however local officials estimate that it will take up to two weeks to clear the estimated 9,000 tonnes of rubbish from the capital's streets.
Demos
Marches and demos will take place in towns and cities around France. In Paris, the march begins at 2pm at Place de la Bastille and heads to Opéra - there will be road closures along the road.
In Rennes, the procession will meet at the Place de Bretagne at 11am, and in Lyon it will start at the Manufacture des Tabacs in the 8th arrondissement at 11am as well.
As for Marseille, the march will start at 10:30 am at the Old Port, walking toward the Porte d'Aix. In Bordeaux, the demo will begin at 12pm at Place Tourny.
On Wednesday night, more spontaneous protests occurred across the country, some were particularly tense. In Lyon, several hundred people took to the streets, leading to clashes with police, projectiles being thrown and garbage cans burned.
One protester was reportedly hit in the face by a projectile - local authorities in Lyon said the cause of the injury was still unknown as of Thursday morning.
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