French president promises no privatisation of rail
French commuters and travellers faced chaos today as railway workers, fearful the state-run company will be privatised, went on strike, disrupting national lines and suburban Paris trains.
President Jacques Chirac stepped in to personally guarantee that the SNCF national rail network would remain a state-run company “whatever happens”.
The SNCF, he said, is a “brilliant French enterprise, essential to France.”
The open-ended strike, which started yesterday evening, was one of the biggest protests in a week of demonstrations planned by groups including teachers, researchers and Paris transit workers. About one in three trains were operating as normal on the suburban Paris network, while two in five high-speed TGV trains were running nationwide, the SNCF said. About 80 per cent of international trains were expected to operate.
Following a meeting today with unions, Chirac said the SNCF’s statute as a state company “would in no case be put into question by anyone. I naturally guarantee this”.
