French Train strike question
 

We arrive on Wednesday the 25th of May and have plans for trekking to St. Lazare for a noon train to Caen, where I have a car rental reservation waiting. With the strike information I'm seeing, today, I've begun checking on alternatives. I do not relish renting from CDG and driving up to Caen after a long flight. The cost of the one-way car rental is about 35% higher than my existing reservation too. I assume my train tickets would be refundable, but that isn't really that big of a deal.

A couple of questions really. If I can't get to St. Lazare due to strikes, will I just lose out on the tickets to Caen refund if the train actually runs?

Other than making the rental car reservation from CDG for a pay later option, is there any alternatives that you might recommend?

. . . arrive <in Paris> on Wedn . .

Sorry.

As Kerouac pointed out, during strikes, you just board any train any time on the day of your travel. Nobody will bat an eye.
You get late to St Lazare, you board the first train to Caen.
No prob.

There will be enough trains to Caen even during a strike, and your ticket will be refunded if you apply. Generally, the SNCF distributes prepaid envelopes for this purpose.

So apparently even during a strike a few/ some trains will still be running. If I have already have tickets and booked seats ( Paris - St. Pierre- des- Corps ) and if that particular train ( TGV ) is not scheduled then I can hopefully board the next departing train for St. Pierre - des- Corps?

You can get on any train on a strike day, including earlier ones. In fact that is what most people do if they can, due to the uncertainty of when they will arrive wherever they want to go.

That is one of the things I liked from Sarko : during a strike, unions are now obliged to give a minimum service. Quite antinomic with the idea of a strike, but heck.

Thanks for leaving this matter up for me. I was thinking no trains would be running which would really create chaos for travelers. Now it looks like it will just be a hassle.

"No trains running" during a strike is Great Britain, Germany or Belgium, not France!

I have never seen a case when no trains were running when there is a train strike in France. It's just reduced service, so not as many runs, etc.

Good to hear! Now the question is whether I can get to Saint Lazare via the RER. I'm traveling with some newbies to europe, so I am hoping that its not a horrible snafu upon landing.

A TER train ticket is good for 5 days from date of travel anyway. No need to panic about that.

Of course you can get to the Gare St-Lazare on the métro/RER.

www.ratp.fr

www.parisbytrain.com

No trains running" during a strike is Great Britain, Germany or Belgium, not France!>

Are trains that are strike-immune made public as in Italyor do you never know until you get to the station?

From CDG RER stations you take the RER into Paris - get one that says Sans Arret Jusqu'a Gare Du Nord and not the local one that stops everywhere and can get very crowded IME - andat Gare du Nord follow 'correspondance' signs for RER direction of Madeleine - it does not go right into Saint-Lazare last time I took it several years ago but there is a walkway - follow signs for Grandes Lignes - mainline trains on the surface level.

don't forget to compost that TER ticket I believe - self-cancel it in composteurs - little things you stick the ticket in to date stamp it and render it invalid to be used again - not all trains will have conductors on them checking tickets so if you do not compost your ticket you are considered to be riding without a valid ticket and face a fine.

StCirq's sites she gives probably say all this!

I saw an article today that implied that there were RER, cab and other strikes going on this week. I assumed that the direct train to GduN and then the line E to Lazare were in it too. I've already got the timetable for the direct trains and we're planning on that method. Glad to hear the scope is a little less!