France’s Rail Strike Has Boosted Buses and Ride-Sharing
- Limited effect of walkout is seen bolstering Macron reforms
- Freight users, tourism suffer as strike enters fourth week
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For the past month, French rail workers have been staging what they had hoped would be a massive strike of the kind that has previously brought the country to a standstill. Instead, the walkout has been blunted by deep changes to the nation’s economy.
Searches on ride-sharing company BlaBlaCar’s app rise sixfold on strike days, according to the startup. At intercity bus line FlixBus, online bookings jump 60 percent when train employees are off the job. The increase is 90 percent on its most popular lines, from Paris to Lille, Lyon and Bordeaux, the Munich-based company said.