The French rail sector is once again on strike. The 24-hour national action planned for Thursday, 2 October, to demand scrapping austerity measures is unlikely to have much of an effect on rail freight traffic, industry sources have told RailFreight com.
“On the basis of the information we have at hand, the impact will be limited. We do not expect much disruption, as there appears to less support for the strike at SNCF Réseau (France’s rail infrastructure manager) than on previous occasions,” observed Alexandre Gallo, President and CEO of DB Cargo France.
Three strikes in one month
The day of action, which follows those staged on 10 and 18 September, has been called by labour unions across a number of sectors including those at state-run railway SNCF, who in a joint statement called for “mass mobilisation, through strikes and street protests.”
A spokesperson for Rail Logistics Europe (RLE), which groups all of SNCF’s activities in the rail freight sector, said the strike is expected have only a limited impact (on freight trains) and was under control. “However, this depends on the level of support for industrial action there is among SNCF Réseau staff, particularly those manning signal boxes.”
Separately, France’s head of state, Emmanuel Macron, has recommended that former prime minister, Jean Castex, who currently at the helm the Paris metro service, RATP succeed Jean-Pierre Farandou as the president and CEO of SNCF. Farandou has reached the maximum age limit for the post.