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STRIKES

France faces more protests as pension strikes see planes and trains cancelled

Trains and planes are cancelled and a fresh wave of demos are planned for the weekend as fury grows in France over the decision of Emmanuel Macron's government to push through controversial pension reform without a parliamentary vote.

France faces more protests as pension strikes see planes and trains cancelled
More demos are planned for Saturday against the proposed pension reforms. Photo by Bertrand GUAY / AFP

Several unions have announced strike extensions including rail workers and air traffic controllers, leading to places and trains being cancelled over the weekend and on Monday.

The French civil aviation authority has ordered that 30 percent of flights in and out of Paris Orly airport and 20 percent of flights in and out of Marseille airport be cancelled on Monday as air traffic controllers extend their strike. 

Weekend flights have also seen cancellations. Other airports should be unaffected by cancellations, but there may be knock-on effects and delays for airline passengers, while flights travelling over French airspace may be re-routed. Anyone who has a flight booked is advised to check with their airline.

Details of any cancellations for flights on Tuesday and Wednesday will be released on Monday, while Thursday, March 23rd, marks the next one-day mass strike, so disruption is likely.

Rail workers have also announced an extension of their strike, so train services will again be disrupted over the weekend – 4 in 5 of the normal high-speed TGV services will run, 3 in 5 Intercité services and 3 in 5 of the normal services on the local TER network.

Trains will likely be disrupted during the one-day strike on Thursday, March 23rd, but some unions are calling to continue rolling strikes, so it’s likely that the rail network will see at least some disruption through the week.

Public transport in cities including Paris is running largely as normal over the weekend, with a slightly reduced service on the RER suburban train network.

Demonstrations are planned for towns and cities across France on Saturday – these are expected to be large with the possibility of trouble flaring towards the end of the demos (from around 5pm).

Smaller spontaneous demonstrations were held in multiple cities on Thursday and Friday after the announcement that the pension reform bill was being pushed through without a parliamentary vote – around 300 arrests were made in total and in some areas protesters set fire to street furniture and vandalised public buildings.

In pictures: Barricades set on fire as pension reform protests turn violent

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TRAVEL NEWS

Eurostar says may scrap links to Amsterdam from 2025

Eurostar's chief has threatened to scrap the rail route to the Netherlands from 2025 because of doubts over when Amsterdam's international terminal will reopen.

Eurostar says may scrap links to Amsterdam from 2025

“Could the Netherlands be temporarily cut off from one of the most essential rail links in Europe?” Gwendoline Cazenave asked in an editorial for Dutch business daily Het Financieele Dagblad on Wednesday.

The Dutch network was suffering “reliability problems, capacity restrictions and delays that are particularly inconvenient for passengers”, she argued.

The company could cut both its Amsterdam-Rotterdam-London and Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Paris routes in 2025, Cazanave’s editorial said.

“In the absence of clarity from the Dutch rail network (…), Eurostar will be forced to suspend connections between Amsterdam-Rotterdam and London and Paris during 2025”, warns Gwendoline Cazenave.

With Amsterdam’s main station undergoing extensive work since June the direct London route has temporarily closed.

Cazenave said that on various sections of track Eurostar trains had been forced to halve their speed to 80 kph since November.

Since the direct route to London was halted for a scheduled six months through to year’s end, passengers have had to disembark in Brussels for passport control before completing their journey.

The Amsterdam upgrade was meant to take six months, but Eurostar has deplored what it says is the lack of guarantees on a resumption date.

“Eurostar is fully prepared to reopen direct connections at the beginning of 2025, as planned,” said Cazenave.

But other work has also been announced from early 2025 in the station, which would limit the availability of platforms, she added. The London connection requires the station to also provide border control services, as since Brexit the lines crosses an EU external border. 

In 2023, Eurostar said it had carried a total 4.2 million passengers between the Netherlands and France, Britain and Belgium.

French national railway operator SNCF Voyageurs holds a majority stake in Eurostar.

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