Eight Metro lines remain closed
PARIS, Dec 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — French transport strikes enter their third week, Paris residents and train passengers will see some improvement after a badly disrupted weekend.
The mass transport strikes over pension reform show no sign of being speedily resolved, and instead discussions have moved on to whether unions would be willing to declare a ‘Christmas truce’ to allow people to visit family and friends over the holidays.
But after a badly disrupted weekend with very few services running – especially on Sunday – Paris residents will see some improvement on Monday.
The city’s RATP transport network has been sacrificing weekend services in order to concentrate its resources on getting commuters to work and back.
On the Metro lines 1 and 14 – which are automated – will be running as normal. Six other lines – 3, 4, 7, 8, 9 and 11 – will be running a limited service during rush hour only and the remaining eight lines will not be running at all.
On the tram, Lines 5 and 7 will be running as normal and lines 2, 6 and 8 will be running all day, but with fewer services than normal. Lines 1 and 3a will be running limited services during rush hour only and Line 3b will be running only in the afternoon.
On the RER there will be limited services running during rush hour only and about 50 percent of the normal bus services will be running.
On the railways there will be a slight improvement with 30 percent of the high speed TGV services running – up from 25 percent last week – but still only one in six Intercité services and four in 10 local TER services – with many of those being bus replacement services.
Flights to, from and over France are running as normal, but if you’re flying in to Paris, bear in mind that connection services between the city and the airport are badly disrupted, so you would be wise to book in advance either one of the Paris Airport private bus services or a taxi or car service. — NNN-AGENCIES
