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Hunger striker plans further Paris-Toulouse train hold-ups |
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Wednesday, 16 April 2008 |
The association Tous Ensemble pour les Gares is organising a protest train from Gourdon to Paris on April 10. Its vice-president Christophe Schimmel began a hunger strike at Gourdon station on February 28. Anger at the rail authority SNCF is intense and extends far wider than the northern Creuse town of Saint-Sébastien (see French News, March, p.25). Ever since November, protestors, sometimes numbering hundreds, have blockaded trains at the stations of Gourdon and Souillac (Lot) on the same main Paris-Toulouse line. Since December 9, 15 trains a week no longer stop at the two stations.
Tous Ensemble pour les Gares now counts more than 1,000 members. Every Friday and sometimes Saturday, throngs of members have been standing on the tracks, joined by maires of the local communes, to hold up the trains for up to 40 minutes and stick notices on the front of the engine. Gourdon and Souillac are towns, not villages. Gourdon has 5,000 inhabitants and a hinterland as large again. The line is important for many Britons travelling north to London, who will be forced to use the car or fly.
SNCF has no obvious grounds for the reduced services, unless the aim is to cut staff costs. Four employees have been sacked at Gourdon station. Much money has recently been spent on renovating the line and securing a level crossing. This winter, Gourdon station was repainted and its floor was relaid.
There was talk of improving the journey time yet the line will not become a TGV line as the Paris-Toulouse TGV runs via Bordeaux, a somewhat longer route. Tilting trains were also suggested but some bends are a little sharp. However, Virgin tested their tilter on the track, reportedly with success.
The Préfet Marcelle Pierrot has called for a halt to the protests. For pupils at the lycée in Gourdon and at the famous lycée hôtelier in Souillac these stoppages are very inconvenient and the hotel school has even had to hire buses to transport pupils.
Protests are planned in April for all the stations on the Toulouse-Limoge-Paris line where the trains no longer stop.
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