Train disruptions to happen this weekend over French pension protests

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
10 Mar 2023 00:07

BFMTV reports that a TGV and OUIGO high-speed train will be canceled, and regarding regional TER trains, only two of the available five will operate.

Protesters during a protest against French government's pension reform plan in Paris, France, February 7, 2023, with the placard reading:"Macron, let us live our retirement"

According to local media on Thursday, train traffic will be disrupted in France this weekend as a result of the seventh nationwide protest against the president's pension reform.

BFMTV reports that a TGV and OUIGO high-speed train will be canceled, and regarding regional TER trains, only two of the available five will operate. The Thalys and Eurostar international trains will also experience disruptions.

Around 1.2 million people participated in the demonstrations across the country on Tuesday, per the French Interior Ministry's statement.

This comes almost two months following the French government's statement that the retirement age in the country will go from 62 up to 65 by 2031.

Agenda push against the public

Last month, despite countrywide protests and strikes, Macron's government decided to push ahead with the bill.

In January, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne unveiled a draft of the controversial pension reform that the government plans to adopt in 2023. Under the initiative, the French authorities intend to gradually raise the retirement age in the country by three months a year from September 1, 2023. By 2030, the retirement age will reach 64.

The reform has caused a wave of protests in French society. Since Borne's announcement, six nationwide demonstrations against the reform have already taken place in France. The first two, held on January 19 and 31, gathered over 1 million protesters nationwide.

Despite polls consistently showing growing opposition to the reform and Macron's own popularity dwindling, the French president insisted on keeping a key campaign pledge he made when he swept to power in 2017 and before his reelection in April 2022.