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Delays on Eurostar, Thalys Friday

Trains from Paris to Britain and Belgium were delayed for up to two and a half hours on Friday, not because of the ongoing rail workers' strike but because of an electrical fault.

A Eurostar train at London St Pancras station
A Eurostar train at London St Pancras station REUTERS/Neil Hall
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Eurostar, Thalys and services to the north of France were interrupted about midday on Friday because of the electrical fault at Pierrefitte, north of the capital.

It was repaired about an hour later (11.00 GMT) but there were delays of between 40 minutes and two hour 30 minutes during the afternoon.

Traffic was not expected to return to normal until the evening, officials of the SNCF rail company said.

Strike continues

The rolling rail strike continued on Friday and Saturday, as many families left for their summer holidays, but with fewer workers joining the stoppage than on previous days.

Just 6.5 percent of SNCF staff stopped work on Friday, according to management, although 22.4 percent of train drivers did not show up for work.

Four out of five TGV high-speed trains were running as were two out of three intercity services.

Two of the most militant unions said they would continue their campaign ahead of negotiations on conditions arising from the government's rail reform.

They have set a new date for a strike on 19 July.

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