Before the strike at the SNCF, "we are far from a black week" tries to reassure one of the company's bosses.

He promises "as normal a week as possible." SNCF Voyageurs CEO Christophe Fanichet attempted to reassure people this Sunday, May 4, in an interview with AFP ahead of a week marked by several calls for strikes within the public group .

"We're far from a dark week. […] TGV services will be normal from Monday, May 5 to Thursday, May 8," he said, adding that most trains will still run during the ticket inspectors' strike on May 9, 10, and 11. "If we have to cancel some trains, we aim to offer every customer the option to travel to their destination on the scheduled day," promised Christophe Fanichet. Localized disruptions on certain regional lines or in the Île-de-France region are also expected, he warned.

Several categories of staff are being called to strike starting this Monday, May 5 , by the CGT railway union and SUD rail, demanding higher pay and better planning of schedules, which they say are too often changed at the last minute. For the May 8 bank holiday, an influential collective of controllers called the Collectif national ASCT (CNA) has joined the call for action, giving it momentum.

Christophe Fanichet has pledged that "all customers will be notified before leaving [for the weekend, editor's note] regarding their return train." "That is, they will be notified before the start of the long weekend on Wednesday for services until Sunday, May 11," he explained.

"Even if we manage to transport everyone, some customers may prefer to cancel their trip [...]. And so, as of now, all tickets are exchangeable, refundable, free of charge," on both TGV Inoui and Ouigo trains, for the week of May 5 to 11, announced Christophe Fanichet.

The head of SNCF Voyageurs also took the opportunity to criticize the unions, saying, "It's not us, it's them," claiming to have given "social dialogue every chance." This comes at a time when the company is refusing any further pay increases. "We've listened and acted. […] We're going to clarify the weekly rest periods for TGV train managers, at six months instead of three," he promised. The much-criticized scheduling tool is also expected to be adapted.

"On the other hand, we clearly stated that on the remuneration side, it would be a no, because we did the job, more than 2.2% [average increase] for 2025, that's much more than inflation," insisted the CEO. In May, 1,300 euros gross in profit-sharing will be paid to the 65,000 SNCF Voyageurs agents, including the train managers. So that's more than 100 euros per month for the year, thanks to this profit-sharing."

"I said that we couldn't afford a strike, and I confirm this, firstly because customers will try the competition (carpooling or the bus, or our rail competitors), and I don't want to give my customers the desire to look elsewhere," warned the manager.

"We already have thousands of fewer bookings for the May 8th bank holiday, SNCF bashing in the debates, and customers who will think twice about their next vacation," he listed, without wanting to quantify the loss of revenue for the company.