The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, Paris

France faced travel chaos on Wednesday as transport unions broadened a nationwide strike against a pensions reform that President Nicolas Sarkozy says is needed to shore up state accounts. Workers at rail operator SNCF went on strike on Tuesday evening and were joined on Wednesday by Paris transport workers and staff at power and gas utilities EdF and GdF -- the second time they have all downed tools in a month. The open-ended stoppage poses the biggest challenge to Sarkozy since he came to power six months ago pledging a deep-seated reform of the economy. Only a handful of trains were scheduled to run on Wednesday and Paris's metro and bus systems were operating vastly reduced services, although some lines were less affected than initially predicted. Energy unions said they planned targeted power cuts of individual buildings rather than widescale blackouts.