Date: 03/04/2018

PARIS (AP) A major French railway strike brought the country's famed high-speed trains to a halt Tuesday, leaving passengers stranded or scrambling for other options and posing the biggest test so far for President Emmanuel Macron's economic strategy. The SNCF national rail authority said only about 12 percent of trains are running Tuesday, in the first of a series of strikes set to last three months. Traffic was also disrupted on Eurostar lines to Britain and trains to Germany, though most trains were running as usual. Passengers are ditching railways, hitching rides on traffic-clogged roads and sharing travel tips online. At the Gare de Lyon station in eastern Paris, platforms were so packed that commuters spilled over onto the tracks as they waited for elusive trains.

External links

French train workers start strike to protest Macron labor reforms | DW | 03.04.2018

Deutsche Welle

Two days off, three days on: that's the pattern that will likely bring major delays to France's rail service over the next three months. The strikes will test the French president's proposals ” and the unions themselves.

France strikes cause travel chaos for plane, train and Eurostar passengers

Independent

Many Eurostar trains cancelled, and the overnight sleeper train from Paris to Milan is replaced by a bus