The majority of trains to Spain and Italy were likely to be cancelled, while services to the United Kingdom and Germany were to most likely remain unaffected.
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It adds to problems still being caused by last week’s blockade of fuel depots, which left motorists queuing at many petrol stations.
The strike is part of nationwide rolling strikes called by CGT and FO unions aimed at forcing the French government to drop planned labour reform.
Nevertheless, the CFDT union has made a decision to back the labour reforms, in opposition to the main unions in the sector.
Already suffering from the impact of last year’s jihadist attacks, tourism in Paris faces a fresh challenge from the recent wave of violent strikes and protests, tourism bosses warned on Monday.
“A strike of that scope a few weeks before Euro 2016 and at the heart of the tourist season is more than unacceptable”, it said.
“The bill will not be withdrawn”, Hollande was quoted as saying in an interview published in the Sud Ouest newspaper late on Monday.
FRANCE’S president and prime minister sent conflicting messages to workers over hated labour “reforms” yesterday as rail strikes began.
Striking workers have blocked or slowed production at most of France’s eight refineries, and disrupted oil imports at ports around Marseille on the Mediterranean and Le Havre on the English Channel.
An enduring strike would likely wreak havoc on the Euro 2016, which is set to start on June 10, bringing almost 2.5 million tourists to France.
Almost 40 percent of the country’s high-speed TGV trains and 60 percent of intercity trains will have to be cancelled due to the work stoppage, SNCF said.
The CGT has also called for a strike on the Paris Metro and other public transport services in the capital on Thursday but the disruption is expected to be minimal.
Workers at the oil terminal in the northern port of Le Havre – which supplies jet fuel to Paris’s two main worldwide airports – voted yesterday to extend their blockade until Wednesday.
The new laws make it easier for employers to fire workers and reduce the pay for overtime hours. But he also insisted it scrap a key article of the bill that would give company-level deals precedence over sector-wide agreements on pay and conditions.
In France unions say the government’s moves will erode job security while failing to bring down unemployment, which is stuck at around 10 percent.
Unions are also furious that the government rammed the reforms through the lower house of parliament without a vote.
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Hollande is considering seeking a second term in next year’s presidential elections despite polls showing he is one of France’s most unpopular leaders since World War II.
