Strike: SNCF to refine its forecasts this Tuesday morning for the May 8th bank holiday

SNCF (French National Railways) is expected to refine its traffic forecasts for the May 8 bank holiday on Tuesday, as part of a strike that is, for the time being, sparing major lines. Several categories of staff were called to strike starting Monday by the CGT-Cheminots and SUD-Rail unions. The railway workers are demanding higher pay and better planning of schedules , which they say are too often changed at the last minute.

For the May 8th bank holiday, an influential collective of ticket inspectors called the National Collective of the ASCT (National Collective of the ASCT) has joined the call for action, giving it added momentum. SNCF Voyageurs has scheduled a press briefing this Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. to update Inoui, Ouigo, and Intercités train departures.

On Monday, the first day of the strike, the main lines were spared, and trains were running normally at most major stations. The disruptions mainly affected local trains , particularly in the Nord and Pas-de-Calais regions, where one in three trains was scheduled to run. Traffic was also severely disrupted on some lines in the Île-de-France region, such as the RER B.

On Tuesday, train and RER traffic should be "disrupted to a similar extent" as on Monday on these same lines (B, C, D, H, N, V, U), SNCF Voyageurs indicated on Monday evening .

" We are far from a black week , there will be no week of standstill, but a week as normal as possible," SNCF Voyageurs CEO Christophe Fanichet said in an interview with AFP on Sunday. "TGV services will be normal from Monday, May 5 to Thursday, May 8," he said, and most trains will run on May 9, 10, and 11.

In addition to promising to transport everyone by train, Christophe Fanichet pledged that "all customers will be notified before leaving [for the weekend, editor's note] regarding their return train." "That is, to be notified before the start of the long weekend on Wednesday for services until Sunday, May 11," he explained. He also indicated that all tickets are "exchangeable, refundable, free of charge" on both the TGV Inoui and Ouigo trains for the week of May 5 to 11.

Some travelers have already begun looking for alternatives. Car rental company Ada reported Monday that it was seeing a 30% increase in bookings for the long weekend compared to 2024, when May 8 fell on a Wednesday.