France: Refinery Strike Hits TotalEnergies; Normandy Trains Cut Friday and Saturday

October 8, 2026 — Update to our October 7 story. The CGT union called a 24-hour strike on Thursday at TotalEnergies refineries and service stations. SNCF has confirmed that its Normandy lines out of Paris are disrupted on both Friday and Saturday. A fourth day of student protests closed several Paris metro stations. The aircrew strike notice for October 17–21 is unchanged.

Fuel: TotalEnergies strike, October 8

Who and why: The CGT, over jobs and pay.
Where: The union says fuel shipments were blocked on Thursday morning at the Normandy refinery near Le Havre, at Donges and at the La Mède site.
Disputed scale: The CGT claims more than half of on-duty staff at those sites walked out. TotalEnergies says under 2% of refinery staff took part and that all refineries and depots are operating.
Motorway stations: The union says 27 of about 180 stations run by a TotalEnergies subsidiary closed. The company says 11.
Duration: 24 hours. No extension had been reported.
Background: A trade site reported on October 7 that more than 1,300 French stations were already short of at least one fuel, mainly in the east, because of low river levels.

Normandy trains, October 9 and 10

Both days, same plan: SNCF’s regional page now covers Friday and Saturday and calls it a local labour action.
Disrupted: Paris–Rouen–Le Havre, Paris–Caen–Cherbourg, Paris–Lisieux–Trouville/Deauville, Paris–Vernon–Rouen and Paris–Évreux–Serquigny.
Normal: Paris–Granville, Rouen–Dieppe, Rouen–Caen, Caen–Rennes and Caen–Le Mans–Tours.
Reported cause: A knife attack on a conductor on the Paris–Rouen line on October 2. This comes from a summary of a regional TV report that we could not open. The union behind the notice is TBA.
Saturday’s cancelled trains: Not yet listed. SNCF confirms lists at 5 pm the evening before.

Protests

Thursday, October 8: A fourth student action day, backed by teacher unions and the CGT. The Paris rally gathered at 3 pm at Place de la Bastille.
Metro: From noon, trains skipped Jacques Bonsergent, Barbès-Rochechouart and La Chapelle. Entrances at Charles de Gaulle–Étoile and Argentine were closed at police request. No strike affected the metro or RER.
US Embassy alert: Travel Weekly reports that the embassy in Paris issued a security alert on October 5 telling Americans to avoid protest sites and expect reduced transit and road closures this week. France remains at Level 2.
Turnout and clashes on Thursday: Not yet reported when we checked (TBA).

Dates ahead

Date	Action	Transport impact
Oct 9–10	SNCF Normandy strike	Five Paris–Normandy lines disrupted
Oct 9–16	Air Corsica pilots (notice not lifted as of Oct 7)	Cancellation list TBA
Oct 17 (12:01 am) – Oct 21 (11:59 pm)	Pilots and cabin crew, French airlines	Cancellation lists TBA; no change
Thu, Nov 5	National strike and protest day	Rail, Paris transit and air traffic control notices TBA

What it means for travelers

Renting a car? Fill up when you can, especially in eastern France and on motorways. Do not leave the tank low before an airport return.
Normandy this weekend: Check your train from 5 pm the day before. Paris–Granville trains are listed as normal.
Flying to Corsica from Friday? Check Air Corsica for cancellations before you go to the airport.
October 17–21: Still a risk for travel on French airlines. No cancellation lists yet.
In Paris: Stay away from demonstrations and expect stations near them to close with little notice. Register with STEP (US) or Registration of Canadians Abroad.