SNCF strike: TGV, TER, delays… what you need to know about the disruptions if you take the train on Thursday

On December 12, 2024, the SNCF agents' strike should be less followed than announced. However, disruptions are still to be expected. We take stock. 

Thursday's strike at the SNCF will have little impact on train traffic, with “normal traffic” announced for all TGVs and slight disruptions for regional trains, “with a national average of eight trains out of ten”, the railway group said on Tuesday.

Disruptions in summary

TER: eight trains out of ten will run – the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region will be the most concerned

TGV: normal traffic a priori 

“We invite you to check the circulation of your trains and connections the day before from 5 p.m. on the TER AURA website, SNCF CONNECT or the mobility app of your choice”, recommends the railway company.

Several unions give up on strike

Only the CGT-Cheminots and SUD-Rail unions are still calling for a strike, while the Unsa-Ferroviaire and the CFDT-Cheminots have given up on it after signing an agreement with management concerning the future of freight and TER railway workers transferred to subsidiaries by the 1st January.

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“The black December and the social winter resulting from a convergence of category struggles that certain catastrophic scenarios predicted could be avoided”, welcomed the resigning Minister of Transport, François Durovray.

The agreement for Fret SNCF employees – also signed by SUD-Rail and the CGT-Cheminots – provides that these railway workers will retain all their rights for 36 months after their transfer to the new subsidiaries Hexafret and Technis.

The representatives of the approximately 4,500 employees of these new companies will therefore have three years to negotiate a new social framework, including a revised organization of working hours, instead of 15 months previously.

The unions had previously called for a moratorium on the disappearance of Fret SNCF, dismantled for having received illicit state aid in the eyes of the European Commission between 2007 and 2019.

TER plus concerned

While the CFDT said it was satisfied to have obtained “a social moratorium”, SUD-Rail called for “continuing to fight to perpetuate these rights beyond this period” of three years.

The CGT-Cheminots and SUD-Rail pleaded for the 1,200 TER employees who will be transferred in a few days to subsidiaries, where the market has opened up to competition, to obtain the same guarantees.

At present, they are assured of retaining their rights for only 24 months. Proposals “insufficient” for the CGT and SUD-Rail, which “demand a new meeting with SNCF management before or during the strike” to review the conditions for the transfer of these employees.