“It’s done! From November 1, new opening hours will be posted on the ticket offices of Clermont-Ferrand station. “To request information or buy a ticket with an agent, there will be fewer possibilities, especially on Sunday morning”, lament the CGT railway unions of Puy-de-Dôme. “This is a project that dated from before the Covid. They did not replace fixed-term positions”.
Adapt to customer flows
For its part, the SNCF is defending itself. The reduction of opening hours was decided according to the affluence. “The objective is to adapt sales hours to customer flows in order to be present where there are the most travelers”.
SNCF Voyageurs-TER also wishes to harmonize end-of-day timetables “with a closing at 6:30 p.m. every day, for more clarity for customers”.
For the unions, the observation is there: “In the department, the counters have been closed in six stations since 2016. In Clermont, the shops of Jaude and Aubière have also ceased to operate. And it continues… “.
Closure of the Aubière SNCF counter: around fifty people demonstrated (November 2016)
Even if they understand that many people now book their train tickets on the internet, according to them, the SNCF does not take into account all users.
“The most precarious people, who arrive with a ten euro note, cannot buy their ticket”, criticizes Gilles Escure of the CGT railwayman.
In the station, two regional ticket vending machines and two self-service terminals (national tickets) are permanently accessible. The opening hours of the station building have not changed.
Practice. The new ticket office hours at Clermont-Ferrand station: Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 6.30 p.m., Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. and Sunday from 11.30 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. , a single train for Paris at 8:30 a.m. and a train for Lyon at 11:30 a.m.
Bastien Durand
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