FRANCE: Heavy disruption to trains spells commuter misery for millions as the country wakes up to a day of major strikes

Record ID: 338802

  • Title: FRANCE: Heavy disruption to trains spells commuter misery for millions as the country wakes up to a day of major strikes
  • Date: 24th September 2010
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (SEPTEMBER 23, 2010) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR GARE DU NORD STATION IN PARIS INSIDE STATION PASSENGERS WAITING INFORMATION PANEL PASSENGERS QUEUING FOR EUROSTAR SERVICES TO LONDON, UNAFFECTED TRAINS AT PLATFORM EMPTY PLATFORM EMPTY TRAIN (SOUNDBITE) (French) COMMUTER SAYING: "I think that there are things that are inevitable and have to be reformed. But I
  • Embargoed: 9th October 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Domestic Politics,Transport
  • Reuters ID: LVA6E8OSO24V5IA0FZI54K8OZZQR
  • Story Text: Heavy disruption to trains spells commuter misery for millions as France wakes up to a day of major strikes and protests against government plans to raise the minimum retirement age by two years.
    Roughly one half of high-speed trains and commuter services were expected to be cancelled on Thursday (September 23) as France woke up to another day of demonstrations and strikes that were also due to hit many public services.
    The stoppages, the second this month, are the latest act in the increasingly bitter showdown between the government, which says it is obliged to make people work longer to save the pension system, and unions who say it is going the wrong way about it.
    At Paris' Gare du Nord, platforms for commuter services were eerily quiet, absent of passengers who would normally be thronging in to get to work early. Elsewhere, passengers milled around to try and see what trains they could catch.
    Many workers had taken the day off or were working from home in a bid to avoid the streets, where traffic was expected to build rapidly and heavily.
    Underground railway services in Paris were also expected to be hit, with up to 50 percent of trains cancelled. Flights were also due to be hit with up to half of short haul destinations facing cancellations, although buses were expected to function normally.
    Union leaders hope that more than two million people were due to turn out to some 230 demonstrations due to be held in most major towns and cities, the biggest being in Paris, where several hundred thousand could turn up.
    Central to the government reform is the plan to raise the minimum retirement age to 62 by 2018. The measure has already been passed by the lower house of parliament, but opposition and unions hope that pressure from the street could still force the plan's substantial revision before it is ratified by the Senate, the uppher house of parliament.
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