Transit Strike Hits Much of France

PARIS, Oct. 17 — Public transportation halted here on Wednesday night as most Métro and suburban trains stopped running, scores of subway stations were closed and buses suspended services at the start of a 24-hour strike that some unions said could be extended.
Only 80 of 600 national trains were expected to operate Thursday, the main day of the strike, said the national rail company, S.N.C.F.
In some parts of the country, notably the north and the east, the high-speed trains, or T.G.V.’s, were canceled, while in the west and the south a small number of T.G.V. trains were said to be operating.
It was unclear Wednesday night how air travel out of Paris would be affected Thursday, but trains connecting the two main airports to the center of Paris stopped running Wednesday night.
The walkout began at 8 p.m. to protest plans by President Nicolas Sarkozy to overhaul early retirement plans for a group of public-sector workers.
In the capital, the number of cyclists and skaters in the streets increased throughout the afternoon, and automobile traffic continued to build. Many docking stations of the communal bicycle system were empty as Parisians sought alternatives to public transport.
According to the latest information available from the R.A.T.P., the city’s urban transport company, three Métro lines — 1 and 6, which run east-west, and 4, which runs on a central north-south axis — may run one in five trains; all other urban and suburban lines were expected to be closed down.
Estimates were that about one in 10 buses and tramways could be running in Paris, while elsewhere in France public transportation was expected to be heavily disrupted.
The only subway in Paris that remained open was Line 14, which runs for about five miles along the Right Bank. It is fully automated.