France’s national railway company has backtracked on plans to cancel a service that enables children to travel alone at Christmas.
More than 5,000 youngsters, aged between four and 14, were thought to be affected by the move, which was made in response to weeks of industrial action.
Workers at the SNCF and RATP rail and public transport companies have downed tools to protest the government’s planned pension reforms.
Weeks of travel misery has worsened, with only half of high-speed TGVs and a quarter of inter-city train running on Monday as the country endured its 19th day of strike action.
SNCF’s cancellation of the children’s service was the final straw for many.
The SNCF Junior & Co service allows the children of parents and families living in different parts of the country to travel unaccompanied during school holidays.
Last week the firm announced it was cancelling the service which would have left families separated at Christmas.
The service, which runs until Christmas Eve, was cancelled on the grounds of security concerns.
One mother told France's Le Parisien newspaper: "I will not see my daughter at Christmas when it has been four months since I saw her. She is very disappointed.
“The plane is too expensive, the bus is not possible, she is too young to travel alone... No other alternative solution is offered by SNCF”.
On Sunday, SNCF said it would reinstate the service, to the relief of many families.
Lucas, 11, said he would have missed seeing his father if the train had not been running.
“I would have been very disappointed because I don’t see him often... I really want to see him,” he said.
After President Emmanuel Macron called for a Christmas truce, some striking drivers agreed to continue working to ensure the service could run.
Mr Macron had called on striking transport workers to “observe a truce out of respect for families and family life”.
SNCF has urged travellers to cancel or delay planned trips.
Weeks of travel misery worsened on Sunday, when tens of thousands planned to meet family and friends for the Christmas break.
SNCF said only two in five TGV trains would operate and international traffic would also be affected.
Mr Macron urged striking workers to embrace a “spirit of responsibility” and for “collective good sense to triumph”.
“I believe there are moments in the life of a nation when it is also good to call a truce to respect families and the lives of families,” he said.
The protest is taking a heavy toll on businesses, especially retailers, hotels and restaurants, during one of the busiest periods of the year.
Industry associations have reported turnover declines of 30 to 60 per cent from a year earlier.
Mr Macron has announced he will give up his presidential pension in a bid to quell public anger at the political elite.
The French leader’s office also said he would not take up a lucrative seat on the Constitutional Council as French presidential tradition dictates.
