March 15 strike: SNCF plans three out of five TGVs and two out of five TERs on Wednesday

Train traffic will again be severely disrupted on Wednesday March 15, for the eighth day of mobilization against the pension reform. SNCF plans three out of five Inoui and Ouigo TGVs, one out of three Intercités, no night trains and two out of five TER trains on a national average, SNCF Voyageurs announced on Tuesday.

In Ile-de-France, slightly disrupted traffic

Concerning the lines managed by the SNCF, the traffic will remain degraded on the lines D and R with two trains out of five on average – and in particular an interruption between Châtelet-les-Halles and Gare-de-Lyon for the D. Three quarters of the trains must run on lines E and P, two-thirds for lines C, H, J and L, and half of the usual service for RER A and B, as well as on line N. Service will be normal on lines K, U, T4, T11 and T13.

The RATP expects slightly disrupted traffic in the Paris metro on Wednesday and very disrupted in the RER. The management anticipates more or less significant disturbances on certain metro lines: one train out of two for lines 3 and 13 (with an opening only from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. for the latter), one out of three in the afternoon for line 12 and two out of three for lines 2, 7 and 8. The other lines (1, 3 bis, 4, 5, 6, 7 bis, 10, 11, 12 in the morning and 14) should experience normal traffic.

The RATP is planning at the same time one out of two trains on lines A and B of the RER, for this national day of action which also marks the ninth day of a renewable strike at the call of the unions.

Traffic disrupted at Orly

In the air, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) asked airlines to cancel 20% of their flights at Paris-Orly on Wednesday due to a strike by air traffic controllers. Flight cancellations for this new day of interprofessional mobilization are thus expected to be fewer than last week, when they had affected, in addition to the Parisian platforms of Orly and Roissy, airports in the region, and concerned up to 30 % of aircraft movements.

Electricians and gas still mobilized

Cuts in production are still on the agenda in the electricity sector, which is still highly mobilized given the crucial issue for electricians and gas operators, who, in addition to the decline in the legal age, fear the abolition of their special pension scheme.

The EDF site listed Tuesday afternoon production cuts in nuclear power plants as well as in thermal power plants. In hydraulics, the EDF site reported a “loss of available power in progress” of 6,210MW, “linked to the current social movement”.

Refineries are marking time

Most French refineries were still on strike on Tuesday, but strikers were reluctant to shut down sites completely as stocks are almost full. For several days, the oil unions have been proposing to the refinery strikers to harden the movement against the pension reform by stopping production, but the latter are reluctant to begin these technically delicate and long operations.