After negotiations on pay and working conditions broke down, several unions filed strike plans for the period between May 5th and May 11th.
While the beginning of the week saw more disruption on regional and local trains (the TER system), the weekend period was set to be more affected by strike action on high-speed TGV lines.
The weekend - which falls just after the May 8th holiday for VE Day - was predicted to be a peak time for travel, with people across France taking advantage of the Thursday holiday to faire le pont or create a long weekend for themselves.
Here's what to expect if you have a trip planned this weekend.
Strike dates
At the time of writing, strike notices have been filed covering the following days;
- Sud-Rail, representing conductors, has filed a month-long weekend strike notice, with action planned between Thursday May 8th and Saturday May 10th.
- The drivers' union CGT-Cheminots has filed an open-ended strike notice, which began on May 5th (initially it was set to start May 7th)
- Mechanics and technicians filed a 48-hour strike notice starting on Tuesday, May 6th
- After widespread strike disruption it usually takes at least a day for services to return to normal as both trains and staff end up in the wrong place
Service disruption
Not all services will be equally affected, so it depends whether your journey is on the high-speed TGV services (either Inoui or Ouigo) or one of the local TER routes.
TGV - The long holiday weekend has been the main target of the strike.
As of Friday, 60 percent of TGV conductors had declared themselves as on strike, and SNCF management told the French press they expected the strike participation rate to exceed 60 percent on Saturday.
Nevertheless, SNCF management has said that "all passengers will be able to travel to their destination on the scheduled day".
The French train service announced on Friday that they expected 96 percent of trains to run over the weekend, exceeding SNCF bosses' initial prediction of 90 percent of trains operating.
SNCF management said they would make use of 'volunteers' (existing company managers, or cadres dans l'entreprise) who received a special one-day training to replace striking train conductors.
You ought to receive an email or text message if your train is delayed or cancelled, but you should still double check its status before heading to the station. Strike timetables are published 48 hours in advance.
While it appears you should be able to get to your destination, there may be some delays or you may be placed on an alternate train.
As such, keep an eye out for an email or SMS from SNCF for travel updates, and be sure to check the status of your train before going to the station. Strike timetables are published 48 hours in advance.
TER and Intercités - Local and regional train services mostly saw disruption at the start of the week, though the level varied greatly between regions.
As for the weekend, regional trains can run without a conductor, meaning they would be less affected by the strike action by conductors.
BFMTV has reported that most TER and Intercités trains across the country were expected to run normally on Friday and Saturday.
Some areas were still expected to see some traffic disruption this weekend. For example, in Nouvelle-Aquitaine no trains will run in the Basque country due to planned works on Friday and Saturday.
You can see a more detailled breakdown of minor disruption in other regions on Friday via the France Bleu website, and to check the status of your regional train, go to the region's TER website (usually formatted as the TER website plus the name of the region - ex. ter.sncf.com/normandie)
As for the coming weeks, CGT-Cheminots has already threatened future strike action in June - more information to be available at our Strikes section.
Paris region - In Paris some parts of the public transport network are operated by SNCF - specifically some of the suburban RER services and the regional Transilien services.
While these services were hit hard by strike action at the start of the week, as of Friday traffic had returned to normal.
Metro, bus and tram services are operated by RATP, which has no strike notices for this period.
Eurostar - Services on the Eurostar are not affected by the strike.
Notice of disruption
Transport sector workers are required to give 48 hours' notice of their intention to strike, the rail operator then uses this information to produce detailed strike timetables.
In multi-day strikes such as this one, the strike timetables are published each day at around 5pm for the following days.
If you have pre-booked tickets then SNCF should inform you 48 hours in advance if your train is cancelled - either by email or an alert on the SNCF Connect app. It's generally advised to check on the website or app before travelling to the station. You may also get a message informing you that your seat reservation has changed, so keep an eye on your email (including spam folders) or text messages.
If you haven't yet booked a ticket, keep an eye on the SNCF Connect app or (for Paris regional transport) CityMapper or Google maps which get updated information on service disruption. You can look up individual trains here.
During a strike period, customers can cancel or postpone their tickets for free, even on non-refundable services. SNCF Voyageurs has also offered anyone who has their train cancelled a 50 percent voucher on their next ticket purchase.
You can find the latest information on travel disruption in our strike section HERE.
Roads
The long weekend around May 8th is the subject of traffic alerts from the country's traffic watchdog Bison Futé, so if you're thinking of driving instead, make sure you check for congestion warnings and possibly allow extra time for your journey.
READ MORE: Where in France are traffic warnings in place for May 8th holiday weekend?
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