“
Inadmissible travel and working conditions
” on Ouigo trains, denounces the CGT-Cheminots in a press release of August 11, relayed by
Rue 89
.
"
Maintenance issues
" would prevent solving multiple problems such as condemned toilets, air conditioning failures or harmful in certain trains.
“
Ouigo train sets cover many more kilometers than conventional TGVs
,” explains Abdelkader Bensadoun, secretary of the CGT railway workers from Lyon Perrache to
Rue 89
.
There are maintenance and unsanitary issues that would require some trains to be withdrawn for more than a week to do groundwork.
“This summer, the low-cost subsidiary of the SNCF has only three emergency trains to replace those which leave for maintenance.
“
We need at least six in reserve: three for the Atlantic part and three for the south-eastern part
”, specifies the secretary.
However, he adds that "
the safety of the trains is ensured
" but that the group "
undermines everything concerning comfort, cleanliness...
”.
Read alsoSNCF: the underside of the new “Ouigo lent” train
In all, 38 Ouigo trains circulate in France and, according to the CGT, some present problems of insalubrity.
This is particularly the case of one of the trains that connects Paris to Lyon Saint-Exupéry: "
Since the beginning of the summer, we have been alerting to the presence of cockroaches and larvae in train 774, and more precisely in car number eight.
The train was taken out for a few days, but not long enough to deal with the problem in depth, and put back into circulation.
The SNCF assures
Le Figaro
that an "
insecticide treatment was carried out for several nights in the car concerned
" and "
due to the persistent presence of the pests, another heavier treatment
" required "
immobilization of the train for several days
" at the end of July.
It was "
put back into operation at the beginning of August
" and "
is now subject to daily monitoring on the maintenance sites
".
But according to information from
Rue 89
, the day after the return to service, on August 4, there were still the presence of maggots and cockroaches in train 774, on the carpet and the walls of car 7.
4h30 journey without air conditioning
In addition to unsanitary conditions, the CGT-Cheminots reports " unacceptable
" transport conditions
for travelers and Ouigo agents with blocked and condemned toilets or broken air conditioning.
"
We sometimes do the whole route without air conditioning, from Marseille to Lille, a 4h30 journey
", mentions Abdelkader Bensadoun.
Inconveniences also highlighted by travelers on Twitter: “
no air conditioning, no flushing or water in the toilets, the level of dirt is high
” in a Ouigo connecting Nantes to Paris.
For its part, the company relativizes: “
For air conditioning, the reliability rate is currently 99%.
Of course, that leaves 1%.
In the event of a breakdown, bottles of water are distributed or passengers are placed in another car.
As for the toilets, in a Ouigo train there are eight of them, at the top and at the bottom, so that leaves alternative solutions if some are closed.
“The group says”
to be surprised by this press release which only fuels a controversy.
The problems have been identified, are already resolved or are in the process of being resolved.
It's not as black as described
.
A meeting with the railway workers should take place this week to put these files back on the table.
