Life in France means you need to be prepared for regular grève (strike) action. Most often, this affects transport, commerce and schools.
There is a strike happening today, Thursday 5th December.
SNCF has announced that only one in 10 trains on the TGV route will operate, 55% of strikers are expected among primary school teachers and air traffic will also be affected.
See below for current information about schedule changes and service disruptions on the French Riviera. This is current as at 7am today; it’s not an exhaustive list but all I can find:
Buses
Envibus : No urban buses will circulate today.
Lignes d’Azur (Nice region):
- Lines under normal service:
- * 22, 44, 59, 65, 67, 68, 69, 73, 77, 78, 85, 86, 88, 90, 91, 92, 93, 706, Express Lines 1 and 2, CADAM North , School K, T School Gilette, School of Cap d’Ail, School Lines 510a, 510b, 510c, 510d, Lines C4, C6, C7, C8, C10 and High Country.
- Lines with no service today:
- Tram lines L1, L2, and L3 : the lines will not work from the beginning to the end of the service.
- The bus lines 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 56, 57, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 66, 70, 71, 72, 75, 76, 79, 80, 82, 83, 84, 87, express line 3, CADAM (East and Semi Direct) will not flow from the beginning to the end of the service.
- School lines : A, C, E, F, L, M, P, R, S, V, W, School School of the Castle, 51C, 51D, 75D, School Saint Laurent du Var SLV1 to SVL5, School Cagnes-sur -G, H, I, O, Q, T / Y will not flow from the beginning to the end of the service .
- Line Charts C1, C2, C3, C5 and C9 will not flow from the beginning to the end of the service .
- The public transport service for people with reduced mobility, Mobil’Azur, will not work from the beginning to the end of the service.
In addition, the Lignes d’Azur commercial agencies will be closed. The presence of the Infobus planned in the schedule will not take place.
All PARCAZUR (P + R) will also be closed.
Flights
The DGAC (French Civil Aviation Authority) has requested airlines to reduce their flight program to and from Paris CDG, Paris Orly, Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse and Bordeaux airports for 5 December 2019. This will also affect Nice Côte d’Azur Airport because of the national disruption.
Nice Côte d’Azur Airport
I always get enquiries on strike days, because Nice Côte d’Azur Airport is terrible at giving information about the status of what’s happening at the airport. Their Twitter account is usually always late for announcements – currently they have not put anything up on Twitter about a strike today – and the ‘News’ feed on their website is always behind (latest news is dated 29 November…..)
After years of telling them the importance of up-to-date information, one of France’s busiest airports finally has a home page notification on their website for passengers with basic strike information. Hooray! Note: if you search for ‘grève’ on their website, you will not find anything!
Today, 20% of arriving and departing flights for Nice will be cancelled. The best I can suggest is to contact your airline directly, then look at the live flight information on a flight tracker or the airport’s website: https://en.nice.aeroport.fr/Passengers/FLIGHT-INFO/Live-flight-information
Air France:
Air France’s flight schedule is up to date. On 5 December they expect to operate:
– all long-haul flights
– 85% of their medium-haul flights
– Almost 70% of their domestic flights
Last-minute delays and cancelations cannot be excluded.
Disruptions are also possible for 6 and 7 December, and their flight schedules will be adjusted the day before, following DGAC recommendations.
To get updates on your Air France flight, go to http://www.airfrance.com – Informations – Infos vols & aéroports – Tous les Horaires – Actualisation des vols en temps reel.
Easyjet:
Easyjet has cancelled 200+ domestic and medium-haul flights today. To get updates on your flight, go to www.easyjet.com/fr/flight-tracker.
(photo: LP/Guy Gios)
Ryanair:
There have been a number of a cancellations today and Ryanair have advised that they have sent text messages or emails to all affected passengers.
Volotea:
There are a number of cancellations and reschedules from 5 to 7 December, but it seems only a few flights to and from Nice are affected. Here is the list of cancelled/rescheduled Volotea flights: https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&prev=search&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=fr&sp=nmt4&u=https://www.volotea.com/en/information/5th-7th-december-affected-flights-by-the-french-national-strike/&xid=17259,15700021,15700186,15700190,15700256,15700259,15700262,15700265,15700271,15700283&usg=ALkJrhj1z9ZkEx-BwVWhRph3LATqb8jHXQ
Vueling:
Vueling has cancelled a number of flights today, but it affects Paris airports only. See the list here: https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&prev=search&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=fr&sp=nmt4&u=http://vuelingnews.com/%3Flang%3Dfr&xid=17259,15700021,15700186,15700190,15700256,15700259,15700262,15700265,15700271,15700283&usg=ALkJrhjDht89UYykWQPqKScx6GomqmjsXQ
Schools
Many schools on the French Riviera will be closed entirely, or have cantine and accueil reception unavailable.
Here is the updated list by town, thanks to Nice Matin: https://www.nicematin.com/greve-mouvements-sociaux/ecoles-cantines-creches-le-point-ville-par-ville-sur-les-perturbations-pendant-la-greve-dans-les-alpes-maritimes-437054?fbclid=IwAR3wWNI9_acmfEHZq4PMhOLeAGNj5lHuzJtVkDLFYYy5AXVPSq4UncE_DGI
Trains
Here is the updated train schedule for trains between Les Arcs and Ventimiglia. This includes the trains stopping in Cannes, Golfe Juan, Juan les Pins, Antibes, Cagnes sur Mer, Nice, Monaco, Menton.
Today’s TER SNCF timetable (PDF format): https://cdn.ter.sncf.com/medias/PDF/sud_provence_alpes_cote_d_azur/Affiche%20grève%20MR08%20LES%20ARCS%20-%20CANNES%20-%20NICE%20-%20VINTIMILLE%20du%2005%2012%202019_tcm65-182164_tcm65-234839.pdf
Did you know?
Interestingly, it seems France ranks highest in the number of days of strike action per year, according to this graph from Statista. For all the lost days of productivity, the economic effects are great.
France is the world champion of strike action (graph: Statista)
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