French strike hits flights and train services

[John Ashworth]

French strike hits flights and train services

Protests against plans to raise retirement age to 62 disrupt transport links

* Lizzy Davies in Paris, Adam Gabbatt and agencies
* guardian.co.uk, Thursday 23 September 2010 08.16 BST

French unions have launched a second 24-hour strike in protest over Nicolas Sarkozy's pension reforms, hitting train services and flights.

In a rematch of the strike earlier this month when transport services were disrupted and between 1.1 and 2.7 million demonstrators marched through French cities, union leaders are urging even more people to down tools and vent their anger over plans to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62.

Fewer than half the lines on the Paris Metro were working normally this morning, according to the RATP public transit network. The SNCF state-run rail system said half the scheduled long-haul trains were likely to be cancelled.

Commuters on some Metro lines had to queue even to get on to platforms. Security was higher than usual at some stations, with soldiers armed with machine guns on patrol.

Officials have warned recently that the risk of a terrorist attack is at a record high.

François Chérèque, head of the CFDT union, told French radio today that the government was doubting itself "so we must turn out in big numbers".

Outlining the mild concessions the government had made since the previous day of action, he said: "Although it was telling us before the first protests that nothing could be changed, it started to move after [September] 7th."

Today would be "another great day of popular mobilisation".

The website for the Paris airport authority, Aeroports de Paris, said many cancellations were expected at Orly and Charles de Gaulle airports and advised passengers to check with airlines before their flights.

The Eurostar train service to London was not expected to be affected, and the Thalys train from Belgium was likely to be only slightly disrupted, with 90% of trains running...