PARIS — Tourists abandoned travel plans and French commuters squeezed into scarce trains Wednesday as one of the world’s most-traveled rail networks endured a second day of strike action.
Rail unions and French President Emmanuel Macron’s government are holding firm so far in a battle over a plan to abolish a benefits system that allows train drivers and others jobs for life.
Macron says that no longer makes financial sense, and the sector needs reform to stay globally competitive — part of his larger plan to change the way the French economy works. It’s arguably his biggest challenge since he took the presidency last year.
The SNCF rail authority said 86 percent of trains were canceled nationwide Wednesday, though the number of striking workers fell slightly compared to Tuesday’s strike kickoff day. Strike action is being planned for the coming three months.
Traffic is expected to resume Thursday, though with some knock-on delays, with the next strikes scheduled for Sunday and Monday.
The walkouts are also hitting international traffic: Almost no trains operated Wednesday between France and Italy, Spain or Switzerland while about a dozen Eurostar trains to and from Britain have been canceled. Traffic to Belgium and Germany also dipped.
American travel agents and the British government were among those issuing warnings to tourists. The strike comes at a time of heavy travel, just after the Easter holidays and as schools around Europe have spring breaks.
Many visitors are finding ways to adapt — sharing travel tips online and saturating car-sharing apps.
The French Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that it’s too early to tell whether it will impact France’s important tourism sector, which took in some 89 million visitors last year and is back on the upswing after suffering from a string of deadly attacks in 2015 and 2016.
