Impact of Train Strike

[Stellaluna]

Hello all,
I land at CDG the morning of July 4th and am then supposed to board a train to Bayonne and connect to SJPdP. Now with the train strike do I need to be looking for an alternate way to get to St. Jean?
Forgive me if this is a silly question but I am new to European travel.
Thanks,
Jennifer

 

[Tincatinker]

C'este la France. A strike proposed for the July 4 may occur, then again it may not. It depends. On July 3 you may be able to determine whether or not the strike will go ahead but a decision may or may not have been made. Declaring a strike is an opening gambit in the lengthy, arduous and usually pointless negotiations between the French State and its employees. There may be merit in securing a cancellable hotel booking in Paris for one night, but there again there may not...

Désolé amiga (sorry my friend) but you may find travel in Europe stimulating

 

[Stellaluna]

Do the strikes tend to be of short duration? One-day strikes? Rotating strikes?

 

[Tincatinker]

Yeh, thats the kind of thing. Maximum disruption for passengers, minimum disruption of pay. (I speak as a long term, deeply embittered, scarred for life ex-commuter and therefore should be disregarded in any consideration of the management or delivery of a publicly-owned public transport service).

 

[Stellaluna]

Yeh, thats the kind of thing. Maximum disruption for passengers, minimum disruption of pay. (I speak as a long term, deeply embittered, scarred for life ex-commuter and therefore should be disregarded in any consideration of the management or delivery of a publicly-owned public transport service).

Not a union member either, I presume....

 

[Tincatinker]

Still a dues paying member actually. (and with 40 years in public service (not that any of the buggers ever said thank-you))

Jennifer, have a great Camino. I hope that French rail strikes, Air-Traffic Controllers and all the other boogy-men are looking the other way when you fly

 

[NorthernLight]

If you have a smart phone with the booking.com app, you can wait until you arrive in Paris to look for a hotel if you are stuck there. You may get a great last minute price. Wifi is free at many cafes, including McDonalds.

Check Eurolines for long distance buses.

Good luck!

 

[naplesdon]

One has to love the subtle sense of irony in France. A strike on a Monday means being able to plan around a long mid-summer weekend and besides putting it on an American holiday in essence puts it to the "man." Besides that is the first weekend of the TdF and the first Monday is not a rest day. Viva la France!
The strike against the petrol suppliers at present pose a bigger problem for everyday life than a planned strike weeks from now.

 

[billmclaughlin]

I once encountered a strike on the Paris metro system that affected all trains and buses. The deal was normal service on all lines, but no ticket sales so everybody rides for free. That's a strike!

 

[Felipe]

With strikes you never know...but generally speaking, long distance lines (TGVs) keep an intermitent service, so you can get finally to your destination, even with some delay.
I would not trust local lines, as Bayonne-SJPP. But, again, you never know.
Que haya suerte!

 

[whariwharangi]

Hello all,
I land at CDG the morning of July 4th and am then supposed to board a train to Bayonne and connect to SJPdP. Now with the train strike do I need to be looking for an alternate way to get to St. Jean?
Forgive me if this is a silly question but I am new to European travel.
Thanks,
Jennifer

Take a plane from CDG to Biarritz. Easy Jet or Air France.

Take PESA or ALSA bus from Biarritz Airport to San Sebastian/Donostia. Take ALSA bus from San Sebastian to SJPdP via Pamplona.

There is also Transports64 bus #816 from Biarritz Airport to Gare d'Hendaye. Take Donostialdea Metro (aka Euskotren) from Hendaia station to San Sebastian Amara station ... 700 meters from the outdoor bus station at Plaza Pio XII where the ALSA (CONDA) bus picks up.

You could try a short circuit by seeing if there is an ALSA bus that suits your schedule from Irun Renfe station to Pamplona.

Express Bourricot provides private hire taxi service for pilgrims from BIQ to SJPdP. You would need to try and book that now.

It might be worth comparing times from Biarritz with times from Barcelona, particularly if the Transports64 bus drivers go on strike too. Get a flight CDG to Barcelona. Renfe train from Barcelona Sants to Pamplona. CONDA (ALSA) bus from Pamplona to SJPdP. Compare train with ViBaSa (Monbus) bus from Barcelona Sants to Pamplona.

 

[bystander]

To add to biarritzdon's earlier comment - and I don't mean to be overly pessimistic but such are the "inclinations" of the French.

However "praemonitus praemunitus".

A strike or public holiday on a Thursday and the Friday can become what the French call a "pont" (bridge) day to the weekend. That is to say that nobody can be bothered to return to work on the Friday and, with the Thursday strike, treat the whole thing as one long weekend.

I hope for everyone en route to SJPdP that I am wrong and all returns to normal tomorrow (Friday)!

 

[naplesdon]

C'est ca.

 

[Brian the Mennonite]

Hello all,
I land at CDG the morning of July 4th and am then supposed to board a train to Bayonne and connect to SJPdP. Now with the train strike do I need to be looking for an alternate way to get to St. Jean?
Forgive me if this is a silly question but I am new to European travel.
Thanks,
Jennifer

I guess I'm now a little concerned about this as well. I land at CDG on the morning of July 3rd. I have pre-purchased my TGV ticket from CDG to Bayonne and have not received any cancellation notices from TGV, so I'm assuming it's still a go. I have been advised to buy my train ticket from Bayonne to SJPdP on the day when I need it at the station in Bayonne.

 

[whariwharangi]

I guess I'm now a little concerned about this as well. I land at CDG on the morning of July 3rd. I have pre-purchased my TGV ticket from CDG to Bayonne and have not received any cancellation notices from TGV, so I'm assuming it's still a go. I have been advised to buy my train ticket from Bayonne to SJPdP on the day when I need it at the station in Bayonne.

I suppose you could start walking in Paris on Chemin de Paris ... you might not get to Santiago in the time available but that is hardly the point.

 

[Stellaluna]

@Stellaluna If I understand correctly, you want to get a better of idea of the potential situation in 2 months time. As far as I can tell, no train (SNCF) strike has been announced for Monday 4 July 2016, is that correct?

I'm not very familiar with the situation in France but they seem to have a system not unlike the one I know where they give a "préavis de grève", ie the strike is announced beforehand and lasts 1 or 2 days. I don't know about France but here they start at 22:00 in the evening and end at 22:00 the next day. Unfortunately, a "wild" (unannounced) strike is always a possibility.

I see on the French railway (SCNF) website that in case of a strike your ticket is valid on any other train that is running but without guarantee of a seat. Or you can ask for full reimbursement of your ticket.

Someone posted a calendar of announced strikes for France recently: http://www.cestlagreve.fr/

Thanks, Katharina. That is exactly the kind of information I was seeking!

 

[Stellaluna]

If you want to look at the local situation on http://www.cestlagreve.fr/ you chose "Pyrénées-Atlantiques (64)" as area. This covers Bayonne/Biarritz and SJPdP. Grève is strike and reconductible means renewable or something like repeatedly (several days) in this context.

Thanks. What I'm most worried about is getting from CDG to Bayonne. I'd be OK to call Bourricot from there.