( AFP / ERIC PIERMONT )
Fret SNCF, the leading rail freight company in France, will disappear on January 1 to be reborn in the form of two separate companies called Hexafret for freight transport and Technis for locomotive maintenance, management announced on Monday.
This is the second stage of the discontinuity plan negotiated by the French State with the European Commission, to avoid a recovery procedure which could have led to the pure and simple liquidation of the company, which employs 5,000 employees.
At the beginning of 2023, the Commission opened an investigation against the French State, suspected of having paid aid considered illegal to Fret SNCF between 2005 and 2019, for an amount estimated at 5 billion euros.
The Minister for Transport at the time, Clément Beaune, chose to negotiate a “discontinuity plan” with the European authorities, considering “that there was more risk” in embarking on a long-term legal procedure with the possibility of being forced to repay everything and therefore liquidate the company at the end of the process.
“The SNCF fought alongside the State to obtain the most moderate discontinuity possible,” the president of Rail Logistics Europe, the holding company bringing together all of the SNCF’s freight activities (Fret SNCF, Captrain, combined transport…), Frédéric Delorme.
Fret SNCF was therefore forced to abandon 23 of the most profitable freight flows to the competition – from Belgian, German and French operators – or 20% of its turnover and 30% of its traffic. This operation was carried out in the first half of 2024.
The second stage, with the disappearance of Fret SNCF in favor of Hexafret and Technis, will take place on January 1 with the elimination of 500 jobs, or 10% of the workforce.
There will be no layoffs, the SNCF and the government have promised, with all railway workers being transferred to other companies in the railway group.
A third stage must take place at the end of 2025-beginning of 2026, with the opening of the capital of Rail Logistics Europe, “but with a red line, that the SNCF group remains in the majority”, insists Frédéric Delorme.
The disappearance of Fret SNCF, leader in the sector with an annual turnover of 700 million euros and almost half of the market share in France, “is very hard for railway workers”, recognized Mr. Delorme, who believes that the conditions are met “to develop economically” despite the weakening of the company.
All SNCF unions have asked to be received by the group's management this week, the last step before a probable strike notice according to union sources.
