Paris transit crawls as strikes and student protests snarl travel on 17 October

Travel across Paris and Île-de-France ground almost to a halt on Saturday 17 October 2026, as a protest called by the Yellow Vests, high school and university students, the CGT and Solidaires unions, the Confédération paysanne farmers' union and taxi and VTC drivers marched from Place de la République along Boulevard de Magenta, Boulevard de Rochechouart and Boulevard de Clichy to Place de Clichy, starting at 2 p.m. Twenty-five stations on metro lines 1 to 9 and 12 to 14 closed, with trains passing without stopping, and the RER A stop at Charles de Gaulle–Étoile also shut. SNCF mainline rail services were unaffected and flights at the two Paris airports were running normally after a crew strike was suspended, but taxi drivers announced a slow-rolling convoy from Porte Maillot toward Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle, with possible blockades on the périphérique and highways by road-transport unions. The disruption coincides with the first weekend of the Toussaint school holidays, Paris's busiest short-break travel period of the autumn. Authorities urged travellers to use the RER B to the airport, avoid the boulevards and Champs-Élysées area, and check Sytadin for live traffic.