Passengers with tickets for the first Eurostar services from St Pancras today have been advised to rebook if they are travelling beyond Paris and Lille.

Country-wide strikes from 8pm on Tuesday (November 13) have brought the rail network across France to a standstill, and from Wednesday morning, Metro and suburban commuter train services in Paris have suffered severe disruption. Reports suggest that rush hour traffic travelling in to Paris on Wednesday morning was heavier than usual, with extensive delays, and around 200 miles of traffic jams.

The transport workers are walking out over plans by President Nicolas Sarkozy to cut pensions.

Details of the extent and duration of the rail strikes are available on the website of French rail operator SNCF, but the information is provided in French only.

SNCF gives warning of extensive disruption, with only 90 of its 700 TGV trains expected to operate. Some services between Lille and Paris will run on Wednesday, but other regional services have shut down completely.

The international train service, Thalys, from Paris to Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne, is also affected. The operator has advised passengers to avoid travel during the strike, and has listed cancellations on its website.

Further to that, the Paris public transit authority has announced that it expects one in ten buses and Metro trains to run on Wednesday.

It is not clear yet how long the strikes will last, but those heading to France over the coming days are advised to check the SNCF website for updates on the strikes.

Eurostar has issued statements to assure passengers that its first day of operations from St Pancras should operate as planned, beginning with the 11.01am departure to Brussels.

However, for passengers with tickets to travel on Wednesday, the train operator is offering a free date change for travel within the next 120 days because of concerns that strikes will restrict travel beyond Gare du Nord station in Paris and Lille.

Owing to the strike action, Eurostar trains will not operate to Calais Frethun station on November 14 and some trains will not stop at Lille.

The strikes in France will not only affect transport. The Opera de Paris and Comedie Francaise will be affected on November 14 and 22; schools, universities and the postal system are expected to face shutdowns on November 20, and the courts will be disrupted on November 29.

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