Test match for the RATP. With the opening of the Rugby World Cup between the French team and New Zealand, a test for the transport authority begins this Friday evening. Jostled by threats of strikes and expected on its management of the flow of travelers and supporters, the RATP says it is ready for the fray.
“RATP is ready…” assures Jean Castex, its CEO. Present at Rugby Park at Auber station this Thursday, the former Prime Minister wanted to be reassuring about his management of the event.
“Nothing we don’t know how to do”
The World Cup, which runs until October 28, is expected to welcome a total of 600,000 foreign visitors and 2 million spectators in France. Figures that don’t scare Jean Castex: “Nothing we don’t know how to do. The Stade de France regularly hosts major events. This is the case for every match of the Six Nations Tournament, and as far as I know, its capacity has not been increased for the occasion. »
In total, ten of the 48 matches of the competition will take place at the Stade de France. As accustomed to this type of event as it is, the RATP has still prepared an exceptional system including reinforced signage at stations. Fuchsia, the color of the World Cup, will be found in the most affected stations around the “SDF” and its fan zone, Saint-Denis – Porte de Paris (line 13) and Front populaire (line 12) . But also in the stations located near the “Concorde Rugby Village” (Tuileries, Palais-Royal, Madeleine, Champs-Elysées – Clémenceau, Invalides and National Assembly).
300 dedicated agents in station
To make their traffic as smooth as possible, lines 13 and RER B will see their offer reinforced on match evenings. But because they are already in high demand on a daily basis, RATP station agents will also direct spectators as much as possible towards metro line 12 which also serves the area around the Stade de France.
Nearly 300 agents will also be mobilized specifically in the Saint-Lazare (lines 12 and 13), Place de Clichy (line 13), Front populaire (line 12) and Saint-Denis – Porte-de-Paris (line 13) stations in upstream and downstream of matches to “channel the flow” of spectators getting on and off the trains.
RATP also plans to strengthen its workforce on the ground through volunteers. Company employees (mainly administrative staff) who have been trained to play the role of station agents on match days in Saint-Denis.
The station agents’ strike, RATP’s other match
These temporary agents will not be too much with the strike announced this Friday. In fact, two unions have called on the station agents of the management to strike, in particular to demand better bonuses during the World Cup. Force Ouvrière, whose strike call runs throughout the duration of the competition, denounces the amount of bonuses that station and train station agents will receive during the World Cup, lower than those granted to metro and RER drivers. The union also protests against the fact that these bonuses will only be paid “to a portion” of station agents, and not “to all” of these employees.
The union also met this Friday in front of the RATP building (Gare de Lyon) to maintain its demands.
The CGT, for its part, filed a strike notice which only concerns this Friday. The union also criticizes “the differences in treatment” between employees of the group “depending on their profession” and “the bonuses paid depending on the days, lines, stations or stations”.
A “threat”, Jean Castex brushed aside this Thursday: “Yes, there is a social movement concerning station agents. We now have the figures, it’s less than 10% participation rate.” Another match for the RATP, the result of which turns out to be just as uncertain.