A strike by rail inspectors in France is causing severe disruption to train services today and is expected to last through the weekend amid the winter holidays, although train services to ski resorts will be maintained.

Train services are “severely disrupted” from Thursday 20:00 (7:00pm GMT) until Monday 8:00am. (7:00 a.m. GMT), the rail operator warned.

Services have been halved on high-speed lines and “disrupted” for European routes such as Eurostar.

Some lines are more affected, such as Paris-Bordeaux, where more than 60% of services are cancelled, according to radio station France Bleu.

Customers, notified Wednesday by SMS and email, are being encouraged to postpone travel.

This strike, initiated by an informal collective of auditors, reintroduced the debate about the right to strike at certain times of the year.

Already, the French right in the Senate is preparing a text, which would prohibit the declaration of a strike near public holidays and the “first two and last two days” of school holidays.

Prime Minister Gabriel Atal, for his part, deplored “a form of habit, whenever there is a holiday, to call a strike” by the railways. “The French know that striking is a right,” but “also that work is a duty,” he said Wednesday.