On Wednesday the long-awaited negotiations between the Paris transit authority, the SNCF and the unions, began just as the train traffic in France was paralyzed for the eighth day.

Train travel was further delayed due to some acts of sabotage against the high-speed trains.

Apparently electric cables were burnt and signaling systems were damaged. The incidents were denied by labor unions.

The national SNCF rail authority said that the vandalism was a “coordinated sabotage campaign."

Bernard Thibault, the boss of the powerful CGT union, said that the vandalism was an “unacceptable act” and probably aimed to discredit the strike movement, Guardian Unlimited reports.  

The talks with the unions and Paris public transit authority started on Wednesday in the presence of a government representative.

Later in the day, talks with the national SNCF railway authority are scheduled.

The talks will last a month and the government hopes that the workers will put an end to the strike now that negotiations began.

Today Paris Metro employees, train drivers and public employees protested against President Nicolas Sarkozy's reform plans.

It appears that Sarkozy has the upper hand as opinion polls show that he is supported by the public. Workers have been slowly going back to work on subway and long-distance trains.

According to the SNCF over half of the 700 high-speed trains and one in four Paris metros were scheduled to run today.

Due to the acts of vandalism delays of one to three hours occurred for some of high-speed trains.

Police is investigating to see who is responsible for the acts of vandalism.

Analysts warned about the strike that will have a great effect over the economy of the country and that it could further slow growth.

Laurence Parisot, the head of France's main employers' association described it as “a real catastrophe for our economy."

He said: "The economic cost is incalculable, probably gigantic.”