Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale
National
Paul Myers

Travel disruption continues in strike-hit France

Millions have taken to streets in France to challenge Emmanuel Macron's proposals to reform the pensions system. REUTERS/Jean-Michel Belo

SNCF said it would lay on 50 percent of the scheduled high-speed long distance trains and 40 percent of the provincial services. Only 25 percent of the trains around the Paris region would run, it added.

Transport in Paris will be patchy, said RATP. Lines 1 and 14 will work all day. However 12 other lines will only function during the morning and evening rush hours. Lines 7bis and 13 will remain shut.

On Sunday, the transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari and Philippe Martinez, the leader of the CGT union, exchanged vitriol over the industrial action.

Barbs

In interviews with the Journal du Dimanche, Djebbari accused Martinez's union of obstructionism and refusing to offer constructive suggestions over the pension reforms. Martinez lambasted the government's hardball tactics.

Prime minister Edouard Philippe is scheduled to reopen talks with unions on 7 January. His meeting will fall a week after President Emmanuel Macron's end of year address to the nation.

Macron is expected to plead for a more emolient tone in the debate over his policies to streamline France's unwieldy system of retirement benefits.

selfpromo.newsletter.titleselfpromo.newsletter.text

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.