Nightmare before Christmas: French strike disrupts trains, metros, no truce in sight
Record ID:
1449458
Nightmare before Christmas: French strike disrupts trains, metros, no truce in sight
- Title: Nightmare before Christmas: French strike disrupts trains, metros, no truce in sight
- Date: 20th December 2019
- Summary: ABOARD TRAIN BETWEEN DUNKIRK AND PARIS, FRANCE (DECEMBER 20, 2019) (REUTERS) TRAVELLERS ENTERING TGV LONG-DISTANCE TRAIN VARIOUS OF TRAVELLERS INSIDE TRAIN TRAIN TRACKS SEEN THROUGH TRAIN WINDOW PARIS, FRANCE (DECEMBER 20, 2019) (REUTERS) PASSENGERS EXITING TRAIN VARIOUS OF TRAIN AT STATION, PASSENGERS WALKING ON PLATFORM AT GARE DU NORD STATION CROWDS OF COMMUTERS WALKING ON PLATFORM INFORMATION BOARD ANNOUNCING TRAIN DISRUPTIONS BECAUSE OF PENSION REFORM STRIKE CROWDS OF COMMUTERS AT STATION / COMMUTERS LOOKING AT SCHEDULE BOARDS COMMUTER WAITING IN FRONT OF SCHEDULE BOARDS GARE DU NORD STATION METRO SIGN VARIOUS OF CLOSED GATE OF METRO STATION (SOUNDBITE) (French) 35-YEAR-OLD PARIS RESIDENT, HELENE YOO, SAYING: "Each day, I walk for two hours with my baby stroller. Buses are fully packed, so it's starting to be very difficult. I even feel like I've lost weight since I walk so much." CLOSED METRO STATION METRO STATION SIGN (SOUNDBITE) (French) 20-YEAR-OLD VERSAILLES RESIDENT, ARTHUR MATTHIAS, SAYING: "For Christmas, if the strike continues, it will annoy everyone, the strikers primarily. I think everyone wants to go home and see their families. It's a very important moment for the unity of families, or even for national unity, to see each other." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE ON BICYCLES AND CARS IN ROAD (SOUNDBITE) (French) PARIS VISITOR FROM CENTRAL FRANCE, VIRGILE LHOMME, SAYING: "I think the (strikers') demands are legitimate. It's normal that people are protesting. I hope they continue protesting until some things change, until opinions from both sides are presented." PEOPLE ON STREET VARIOUS OF CARS AND CYCLISTS ON ROAD
- Embargoed: 3rd January 2020 10:16
- Keywords: France strike Paris pension reform station train transport strike
- Location: ABOARD TRAIN BETWEEN DUNKIRK AND PARIS, AND PARIS, FRANCE
- City: ABOARD TRAIN BETWEEN DUNKIRK AND PARIS, AND PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Lawmaking,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001BAS6VD3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Five days before Christmas, France's long-distance trains and Paris metros remained heavily disrupted on Friday (December 20), as a nationwide strike over a proposed pension reform plan surged on.
French unions had said on Thursday (December 19) that the strikes that have crippled the transport system will continue over the Christmas holidays after talks with the government failed to break the deadlock over a planned overhaul of the pension system.
Two weeks of nationwide industrial action in France have disrupted railways and roads, shut some schools and brought more than half a million people onto the streets to protest against President Emmanuel Macron's wide-ranging reform plan.
In Paris, six of the 16 metro lines remain completely shut on Friday, while 50 percent of all long-distance trains run by the SNCF railway company will not circulate.
Due to the absence of metro service in the French capital, Parisians move around the bustling city on foot, with some walking for hours on end every day. Others have taken to wheels, using bicycles and electric scooters.
"Each day, I walk for two hours with my baby stroller," Parisian Helen Yoo told Reuters. "Buses are fully packed, so it's starting to be very difficult. I even feel like I've lost weight since I walk so much."
French people's support of the strikes have not waned, tallying at 54 percent, according to an Ifop survey conducted for French media on Thursday (December 19).
However, 66 percent of respondents favoured the implementation of a universal pension system.
Macron aims to streamline the generous state pension system and prod people to work until the age of 64, past the legal retirement age of 62.
(Production: Ardee Napolitano) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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