French unions say “non" to “no-frills" train

A new, low-cost rail service was launched in France yesterday – but radical unionists spoiled the occasion by delaying its departure. As reported, the iDTGV train is offering tickets from Paris to Marseille for as little as 19 euros one-way; the service can only be booked online. An undisclosed number of tickets are available at the lowest price, with those who book later paying higher rates as is common on no-frills airlines. But, according to The Independent newspaper, more than 400 workers from the SUD union federation climbed on to the tracks at Gare de Lyon in Paris yesterday, delaying the inaugural departure by 35 minutes. After police cleared the protestors from the line, the newspaper reports, the demonstrators let off “klaxons and detonators” for more than two hours. The union is reportedly concerned that the new service represents the first move in a privatisation of the French national railway, SNCF. Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad Ltd