France, Nov. 30 -- France is bracing itself for a turbulent Christmas as the national railway network's annual pay negotiations get underway, with a first wave of industrial action by train conducters getting underway this weekend, forcing the SNCF to cancel 60 percent of its TGV and Intercity services.

Train services on all the high-speed TGV lines have been drastically reduced, with some regions more seriously affected than others.

The SNCF, however,expects normal traffic on Eurostar and Thalys servicesto the UK and Netherlands, respectively.

However, TGVs to Switzerland and Italy will be cut by two-thirds, trainsto Germany cut by half, while all trains toSpain have been cancelled.

A "gradual resumption" to normal service is expecte...