Millions of French commuters faced a second day of transport chaos on Wednesday as rail workers continued what is expected to be three months of intermittent strikes – the first major test to Emmanuel Macron’s pro-business plan to reshape the French economy and loosen labour rules in the state sector. Rail strikes are scheduled for two days out of every five until 28 June against Macron’s proposed sweeping changes to SNCF, France’s vast state rail network. It is the biggest industrial action against the centrist president since he took office last year.

About half of essential rail staff and a large majority of train drivers were expected to walk out. SNCF management said 29.7% of staff were taking part in the strike on Wednesday compared with 33.9% the previous day, but unions have given much higher figures of 60% or more on the first day. Regional and local trains were severely limited, while one in seven high-speed TGV trains were running. International trains to Italy and Spain were stopped but three out of four Eurostar trains to London were operating.(theguardian)…[+]