The threat of a strike at the SNCF looms for the Christmas weekend. If mobilization is confirmed, what steps should you take to obtain a refund or exchange of your ticket?
Will travelers be able to join their families by train for Christmas this year? This is the concern of many users who have already purchased their train tickets for this period. And for good reason, one of the four unions in the French railway sector, SUD-Rail, is considering “several days of action in December” to bend the SNCF on a very specific subject: the salaries of railway workers. In a recent letter, addressed to CGT Cheminots, Unsa Ferroviaire, CFDT Cheminots, the union organization offers them “build a powerful mobilization” in order to obtain new salary negotiations. The latest ones, which took place at the beginning of November, are far from having convinced the main unions. According to The Parisianthe management of the SNCF offered them a “average increase” salaries of 4.6% for the year 2024, as well as a “value sharing bonus” of 400 euros for the end of the year. Insufficient taking into account inflation, estimates SUD-Rail.
Is the Christmas weekend really threatened by a train strike?
Contacted by our editorial staff on November 16, the SNCF press service confirmed to us that“no strike notice was filed for this period“. For the moment, therefore, there are no repercussions on train travel and the French will be able to travel as planned to reunite with their families at Christmas.
However, on the union side, if their demands are not heard, SUD-Rail in particular has said it is ready to organize “one or more days of action in December which would include the big departures”, indicated Eric Kayser, representative of the organization to AFP. Which means that potentially, the Christmas weekend, from Friday December 22 to Sunday December 24, 2023, could be disrupted by a strike at the SNCF.
Steps to know in the event of a strike
If there is mobilization for the Christmas weekend, on the railway company websitesteps exist in the event of “disrupted circulation of your train (strike, incidents, etc.)” to obtain a refund or exchange of tickets. The rules are as follows:
- For a trip by TGV InOui or Intercitésyou have the possibility via the application or on your SNCF Connect online space to“make a free exchange for another date” or“cancel your ticket and get a full refund.” On the application, select the ticket in question and click on “See details”: two “Cancel” or “Exchange” boxes are then offered to you.
- In Europe, in the event of strikestickets are exchangeable and refundable free of charge, “on the DB-SNCF offers in cooperation, TGV Lyria, TGV France-Italy, TGV France-Spain, TGV France-Brussels, TGV France-Luxembourg, and TGV Paris-Fribourg.”
- For a journey made with OUIGO Grande Vitesse or OUIGO Classic Train, you can “exchange your ticket free of charge on SNCF Connect” Or “cancel your ticket on OUIGO.com. Reimbursement sent by email within 3 days, in the form of a purchase voucher, re-creditable.”
Please note for OUIGO trips: “without action on your part before D-1 of traffic at 11:30 p.m., the journey concerned will be automatically canceled (full refund sent by email in the form of a re-creditable purchase voucher)”, explains the company. As a reminder, last year at Christmas, during the controllers’ strike, SNCF management implemented a 200% refund on journeys canceled by the movement. In such situations, users feel “held hostage” during this long-awaited time of year.