French rail strike

[tigerburnie]

Lifted from the unoffy........
Re: Strike action SNCF
Anyone who has booked should have received an email. If not, herewith a cut and paste:

Dear Customer,

We are emailing as we have identified that you are due to travel between 11 and 13 December 2013. We have had confirmation from SNCF that a strike has been scheduled for Thursday 12 December 2013. This action will begin at 19:00 on Wednesday 11 December and run through until 08:00 on Friday 12 December.

The following information relates to travel between the times/dates stated only.

Below are refund and exchange conditions that apply to tickets valid on French domestic journeys only.

SNCF journeys:

All tickets with reservation, regardless of the after-sales conditions stated on the ticket, valid for travel within France between 19:00 on Wednesday 11 December and 08:00 on Friday 13 December 2013 can be used on any other train, operating on the same route as the original ticket from Wednesday 11th December until midnight on Friday 13th December 2013.

Seats cannot be guaranteed during this time.

Due to expected service disruptions, the timetable cannot be guaranteed.

Groups are advised not to travel during the strike.

Tickets must still be validated in the yellow machines at the station, prior to boarding the train.

We do not yet have details of specific services that may be affected. It is possible that we may not get this until a day before the action starts. We ask that you check the Service Updates page of our website before you travel to find out if / how your train is affected. As soon as we receive further information, we will post an update.

Exchanges and Refunds (for domestic French journeys only):

Customers due to travel in France from 19:00 on Wednesday 11th December until 08:00 on Friday 13th December 2013 who wish to cancel their journey, can obtain a full refund before or after departure. If a customer wishes to postpone theirjourney for a date after the strike, this must be processed as a full refund, followed by the sale of a new ticket. Passengers will need to pay any difference in cost between the original tickets and the new tickets.

Passengers in possession of a return ticket, whose outbound journey is due to take place during the strike, can obtain a full refund on both the outbound and inbound legs of their journey.

Connecting Services and Compensation

We have not yet been advised of any planned disruption to Eurostar services. Similarly, we do not have information for customers holding a Eurostar French Connections ticket.

You have a Eurostar French Connection ticket if you hold 2 ticket cards for one journey (e.g. London – Nice) with 1/2 and 2/2 in the right hand corner of the tickets and the fare only shows on the 2nd (2/2) ticket.

Please check the Service Updates area of our website before you are due to travel. As soon as we receive anything further, we will post an update.

Neither SNCF or Rail Europe are offering any further compensation, other than a refund as detailed above, for any losses incurred as a result of customers choosing not to travel. Any customers choosing not to travel would need to contact their travel insurance provider for such losses.

Please accept our apologies for any problems you may experience with your travel plans, which, I am sure you understand, are beyond the control of Rail Europe Ltd.