SNCF Strike and the journey

The sun was rising in the west. I thought wait a minute…has SNCF not gone on strike today!! But then I realized that I was disoriented. Sun was rising in the east and SNCF had gone on strike today. Our reservations were in disarray like that of a retreating French army. The train delays were like a full course French meal. It comprised of an entrée when SNCF stopped the train to Clairmont Ferrard at an obscure station and bundled all passengers into a bus. 

This is quite a common practice here with most of the European railways. Anyway, I wouldn’t really complain about the bus ride. The French cow country this side was beautiful. The vistas of the city of Claremont Ferrard were breathtaking. The black cathedral in the middle of the city is a view to cherish. Meanwhile, SNCF continued to serve us other surprises. They served us an unwanted meal in the form of a compulsory reservation of 46 euros (We had EU rail passes and we did not require for this train, but we were asked to purchase anyway).

Then the main course was in the form of train from Claremont Ferrard to Lyon getting late by more than an hour. With great help from French railways, this meant we would miss our connecting trains ahead (from Geneva towards Prague). But SNCF was still unsatisfied and wanted to serve us more. The only trains that are delayed in Switzerland are the French trains arriving in the country. And so was true for the Lyon-Geneva train. We missed all our connecting trains towards Prague, and finally had to look for accommodation somewhere in Geneva or Zurich. Throughout the journey, from Lyon onwards, SNCF kept repeating that the delay was due to a man on tracks.

We were finally saved by Swiss Railways. How......read here.