Railway strike cost France 153 mn euros

Paris, June 19 (IANS) France's longest railway strike over controversial reform cost the country 153 million euros, state railway company SNCF's officials said Thursday.

"We lost 153 million euros ( $208.66 million) or a third of our income of last year. This is huge and it is time to get back to work in public services," Xinhua quoted Guillaume Pepy, head of SNCF Railways, as saying in an interview with local daily Le Parisien.

"Railway strikers are legitimate as they respect the laws. Once democracy is expressed, the movement must stop," Pepy said, adding parliament approval of the rail reform was due.

On Thursday, CGT and Sud-Rail trade unions continued their strike into its second week, aimed at forcing the government to abandon reform that would merge SNCF and RFF to reduce debt levels.