French railworkers strike 22/3-24/3

[**Clare**]

:sad1: Hi there, is anyone else going to be affected by this? I've just opened my email to find an email there from raileurope saying that we are due to travel within the strike period (Tues 23rd) and the service may not be running, they won't know until Mon 22. I'm gutted. Just when you think everything is falling into place.....:sad2:

[Mum to Belle]

:sad1: Hi there, is anyone else going to be affected by this? I've just opened my email to find an email there from raileurope saying that we are due to travel within the strike period (Tues 23rd) and the service may not be running, they won't know until Mon 22. I'm gutted. Just when you think everything is falling into place.....:sad2:

:scared1: Not funny! That's next week!!!!! Do you have any alternative travel options?

[DLPdaft]

I had exactly this dilemma in November 2007 - and the planned strike did go ahead. I think its quite unusual for French unions not to strike when they've planned to :confused3.

I booked a private shuttle from CDG to DLP, and I got a refund of the TGV tickets I'd already paid for, from Rail Europe (I phoned them before we travelled, and let them know the situation).

[**Clare**]

The email said they would likely know by lunchtime on Monday which trains would be affected so I can either cancel now, get a refund and try and get a private/shared shuttle or else wait and see if we are affected. If so there is always the VEA bus as a last resort. It is services from 20.00 on Monday to 08.00 on Wednesday that may be affected. We are booked on the 1900 train on Tues.

It's not the end of the world but I'm just gutted. I took ages trying to decide how to get from the airport to DLP. Typical. :sad1:

[Ware Bears]

:grouphug: for you **Clare** not the sort of worry you want. :sad2:

[B2B-2008]

Will they strike on the eurostar also?!

We travel out on the 25th. I know not the dates you mentioned but I can just see the delays!

[**Clare**]

Will they strike on the eurostar also?!

We travel out on the 25th. I know not the dates you mentioned but I can just see the delays!

Hi there, I'm not sure of the position with the eurostar (I don't think they are too sure themselves). Here is the email I received. Hope you aren't affected. I think we might be resigned to the VEA, ezyshuttle are fully booked, which I expected. I'm waiting for a couple of other shuttle companies getting back to me.

Oh, and my mobile phone died this morning too...!!!:confused3



Dear Customer

SNCF SERVICES

We have been informed of a strike that is due to take place on SNCF services in France on Tuesday 23rd March. The strike will start at 20:00pm on Monday 22nd March and will finish at 08:00am on Wednesday 24th March and we believe that you are due to travel within France during this period. (Please accept our apologies if you receive this e-mail and you are travelling earlier or later than the stated commencement or end times of the strike - your service should not be affected.)

We will not know until Monday 22nd March which services are likely to be affected.

If you wish to travel,
All tickets with a reservation that are valid for travel within France on Tuesday 23rd March 2010 can be used on any other train, operating on the same route as the original ticket, until midnight on 24th March (i.e. the day following the strike).
Tickets cannot be used to travel the day before the strike, i.e. on 22nd March, nor on any other alternative route.
Seats cannot be guaranteed during this time and all seat reservations are suspended.
If you travel tickets must still be composted in the yellow machines at the station, prior to boarding the train.
No compensation will be awarded for delays or late cancellations of services during this period.
If you wish to postpone

your journey for a date after the strike, you will need to purchase new tickets to travel and have a refund on the original tickets. However, any additional costs in the price of the new tickets will need to be met by you.

If you wish to cancel

your journey and are due to travel on Tuesday 23rd March then a full refund of the SNCF journey only (not including Eurostar connections tickets i.e the through fare from London to French provinces - see Eurostar below) will be guaranteed at this time, regardless of ticket conditions. However, please see below for connecting services.


Due to expected service disruptions, the timetable cannot be guaranteed.



We should have more information regarding this strike on Monday, including a summary of trains that are affected by the strike. If you require further information on whether your train is operating, please call the strike line on 0844 848 4057 after 11.00 a.m. on Monday 22nd March by which time we would hope to have further information. Please do not contact us prior to this date and time.



OTHER SERVICES



Eurostar - to/from UK - to Lille/Paris

Please note that if your journey commences with or ends with a Eurostar journey from/to the UK, a decision on whether they will offer exchanges and/or refunds will not be made until the full effect of the strike is known.



Other international journeys

We are still awaiting information on how the strike may affect other international journeys which connect at Lille or Paris.

[B2B-2008]

Doesn't look good!

Please let us know what they tell you on Monday. I did a search on the internet but couldn't really see anything.

[**Clare**]

I have already phoned to cancel our outward trip, I thought that even if our train was running then maybe there might be delays, very busy trains etc. Not what I would want with 3 and 1 year old and luggage, even if it is only for 10 minutes! I have to return my tickets by special delivery and it could be up to 28 days to receive the refund :scared1:.

Hope your journey goes to plan!

[B2B-2008]

I know what you mean, I'm going to be 32 weeks pregnant, I will just pray everything is OK as we can't fly there.

If not hopefully the insurance will pay out.

[**Clare**]

Aw congratulations! That's lovely.

Have a great trip, if you make it, if not it'll be even better when your little bundle arrives. That's what I'm hoping anyway, we've been to WDW 4 times and DLP once but this is our first trip with the kids!

[**Clare**]

Morning, just a quick update. Things are looking good again....I've had confirmation that RS transports are available to pick us up so I've booked that :yay:! I think it will actually end up more convenient and we'll probably arrive at DLP around the same time as the tgv would've got us there, or even earlier as we had allowed plenty of time from the landing time to the departure time of the tgv.

Also, my new phone handset is being delivered this morning too :woohoo: It wasn't a good 24 hours since getting that wretched email...dh laptop died and I got my appointment in for minor oral surgery that I've been waiting for ages for (kinda hoped they'd forgotten about me!). Why does bad stuff always happen at once!!

Mostly all sorted now though, thanks for the support!

Clare

[Ware Bears]

Good news then :thumbsup2 apart from the surgery :hug:

Have a great holiday. :wizard: