Dozens more trains have been cancelled this week owing to further strike action, which got under way on Thursday (5 December).

In a statement, Eurostar advised passengers to check the status of their train before travelling to their departure station.

“Trade unions in France have called for a nationwide general strike from 5 December 2019,” said Eurostar.

“The strike action will impact our ability to deliver the usual timetable as we expect disruption to signalling along all routes. As a result, we will now run a reduced timetable until [Thursday] 12 December.”

Seven trains departing London St Pancras for Paris Gare du Nord and another two departing for Brussels Midi/Zuid were pre-emptively cancelled on Monday (9 December), as well as 11 inbound services.

Eurostar has also made a series of pre-emptive cancellations on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (10-12 December).

Affected passengers booked to travel on a train up to 12 December can postpone their journey free of charge, while those on cancelled trains can exchange their ticket for another service or claim a full refund.

Eurostar though has warned exchanges will be “very limited” and has advised passengers to travel outside the strike period, if possible.

French public transport operator RATP has warned travellers to “avoid public transport”, adding: “Due to planned industrial action, there are severe traffic delays on all RATP networks.

“Given the high risk of saturation of the network, RATP invites all travellers who have the opportunity to postpone their travel or to prefer another mode of transport.”

France’s state rail operator SNCF has also warned of “severe disruption”. “Due to a nationwide strike affecting multiple industries, SNCF traffic is likely to be severely disrupted across the entire network,” said the operator.

“We urge all passengers to postpone their journey. Each day throughout the strike, information on trains for the following day will be available at 5pm on the Assistant SNCF app and other SNCF information tools.”