Strike at the SNCF: “I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to get back to Milan”, waiting and hassles at Sète station

Des voyageurs dans l'attente ce vendredi matin en gare de Sète Thomas Ancona-Léger

Le mouvement social chez les contrôleurs de la SNCF bat son plein tout le week-end. Zoom sur la gare sétoise où les usagers oscillent entre débrouille et attente. 

On the square in front of the Sète station, the noise of the construction site and its jackhammers has replaced that of the comings and goings of passers-by. It's around noon this Friday, and the SNCF controllers' strike which is in full swing across France has dissuaded many travelers from traveling by train. "We have half as many customers as usual", remarks Frédérique, the manager of the Relay& nbsp;from the station. From her small establishment, this Friday morning she only saw one TGV stop at Sète station. Resigned, she takes advantage of this unusual calm to "s'take care of the papers", even if she concedes "a significant shortfall".

More than two hours waiting

Resigned, Isabelle is too. Sitting in the waiting room, handbag placed on her knees, she waits: "Usually, I take the 12:36 p.m. train ", specifies this home help of around forty years old who works in Sète but lives in Montpellier. "Lat, I'm going to wait for the one at 1:51 p.m., I've been here for more than two hours and  I'm starting to get tired, she confides, explaining that her children are waiting for her for lunch. 

Sitting next to him, Fabian opted for a change of strategy. His train to Grenoble being canceled, he decided to take a carpool from Montpellier to get there. "Of course it bothered me to change my plans at the last moment, but you have to adapt…, he philosophizes while tapping on his smartphone. 

Stuck at Sète station

But the prize of the struggle goes this Friday to Mahmoud, Swiss Italian, stuck at Sète station after seeing his train to Lyon canceled. "I absolutely don't know how I'm going to get back to Milan", sighs this driver who has just left his truck on the singular island. The strike ? He discovers it when the situation is explained to him, but prefers to see the bright side of things: "There are more unpleasant places to get stuck". 

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