The days of strikes in Parisian transport follow one another and resemble each other.
As in November and February 2022, the social movement, very followed this Thursday at the RATP and the SNCF against the pension reform, did not give rise to scenes of crush.
On the contrary, the 9 million regular travelers seem once again to have made their arrangements.
Teleworking, RTT... Those who could stayed at home.
Even on the roads, the level of traffic jam was at a lower level than the average for a “classic” Thursday morning.
In Saint-Lazare, platforms for lines 4, 12 and 13 are sparse
Between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., the quays of Saint-Lazare, Châtelet - Les Halles or Juvisy-sur-Orge (Essonne) were strangely deserted.
A few students, construction workers, home helps;
all trades that require a physical presence, on the other hand, had no choice but to try to take one of the few trains in circulation.
Waiting on the platforms of line 12, Karima is a home help.
“I left Argenteuil (Val-d'Oise) this morning.
I'm very lucky, I had a line J train. I'm going to the 6th arrondissement, I'm helping an elderly person at home”.
Stéphanie would have preferred to be working from home.
She goes to the Convention station.
“I work in a notarial office.
Our boss asked us to try to be present... I left Guy Môquet (Paris XVII) a little early.
Too bad if I'm late..."
“It feels like the start of the Covid”
Komlan, an automotive engineer, took line 13 at Saint-Denis, with Saint-Lazare as the exceptional terminus.
“I have to go to Montparnasse, I have a day of lab tests that I didn't want to cancel.
Fortunately, there are few people, it feels like the start of the Covid..."
Juvisy-sur-Orge station, Thursday morning January 19, 2023.
At Châtelet - les Halles, RER A and B are also lightly loaded.
The RER A trains pass by, almost empty.
Félix, dressed as a construction worker, took the lead to go to the Poissy sector (Yvelines), where he is working on a building under construction.
"I left La Courneuve (Seine-Saint-Denis) with metro line 7... but there were plenty of closed stations!
I got off at Gare de Lyon, I took the wrong line.
There you go, the RER A seems to be going well, ”he said before rushing into the double-decker train.
Same affluence worthy of a public holiday in suburban stations, well upstream of the capital.
At 8:30 a.m., in that of Juvisy-sur-Orge (Essonne), served by the RER C and D and normally crowded during the morning rush, the "red vests" mobilized are almost more numerous than the travelers who have obviously opted for other means of transport or stayed at home.
It must be said that traffic is in line with forecasts: less than one in ten trains on the two RER lines.
Juvisy sur Orge RER station at 8:30 a.m.
The indicator screens are empty of any mention.
With the exception of the screen located before the validators which displays an astonishing “Fluid traffic.
Have a good trip !
“The traffic is not fluid.
It is almost non-existent.
“There are no more trains on line D, in the direction of Paris or Corbeil”, announce the loudspeakers of the station, shortly before 9 am.
"Well, well, I'm stuck," explains Lucas, 20.
The young man, learning in a construction company left at 7:30 a.m. from his home in Brétigny to go to Brunoy, still in Essonne.
The "double penalty" for the traveler who must take both RER lines for this journey.
"How will I get back?
»
“I got a C, which I waited a long time to get to Juvisy.
But I don't have a D to continue.
I'm going to try to take a C to go home, ”says the young man fatalistically.
Outside the station, Paula does not take her eyes off the screens which indicate nothing other than the reminder of the “interprofessional national social movement”.
This caregiver must go to a patient in the 9th arrondissement but does not really know how to get there.
She might be able to catch the last "zara" line C train which will leave for Paris (with terminus in Austerlitz) at 9:33 am.
In Saint-Lazare, platforms for lines 4, 12 and 13 are sparse
“But then I have to take line 14 which operates normally and then line 7... which only runs during peak hours I believe.
And then afterwards, tonight, how will I go home?
“, sighs the caregiver.
She too resigns herself to turning around to return to her home in Athis-Mons.
“I can go there by bus.
They are driving normally this morning, ”she concludes.
