Fast and slow

14 November 2007 By Pierre Briancon

The Eurostar is inaugurating its new, faster LondontoParis line the day French transport workers are going on a massive strike against Sarkozy s pension reform plans. British engineering has finally caught up with gallic highspeed train technology, but the French railway operator s unions are still looking backward.

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Eurostar on Wednesday inaugurated a new ParisLondon line that will shorten the trip between both capital cities to 2h15mn. Trains in London will now arrive and depart from the newly refurbished San Pancras station.

The same day, French transports were hit by a strike called by publicsector unions to protest against president Nicolas Sarkozy's plans to reform the industry's pension system. This is the second time this fall that a massive strike hits trains and metros throughout the country.

There were signs at midday that one of France's most influential unions, oncecommunistdominated CGT, was ready for a compromise allowing negotiations with the government to resume on the planned reforms.

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