As with every strike at SNCF, competitors are rubbing their hands with glee. As the labor strike intensifies throughout the week from Monday, May 5, to Sunday, May 11, travelers who had booked tickets with the national rail company, worried about potential train cancellations, are hastily changing their plans for the long weekend made possible by the May 8 holiday.

According to the online booking platform Kombo, ticket cancellations on SNCF routes have indeed surged in recent days, benefiting all rivals, rail or other. Present in a limited capacity on the Paris-Lyon route (five rotations per day), the Italian railway company Trenitalia has, for instance, recorded a 20% increase in bookings for Thursday, May 8, according to Kombo.

Bus and carpooling companies are also among the major winners of the labor dispute at SNCF. The German bus company FlixBus reported a 45% increase in bookings over the week compared to the same period in 2024, on several routes between Paris and cities in Normandy, such as Rouen or Le Havre, as well as in the southwest of France.

This increase can, of course, be explained by a shift of travelers from SNCF to buses, but also by a favorable calendar allowing workers to use the May 8 public holiday to take long weekends. FlixBus also noted a 30% increase in searches on its website for the upcoming extended weekend. It said it has "the ability to add routes and a few buses on certain busy lines if necessary at the last moment."

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