The French railway world is changing in the face of the advent of competition. On December 14, a new crucial step in the transformation of French rail will be reached: around 1,200 SNCF railway workers will be transferred to subsidiaries of the public group, with the exception of Brittany and Occitanie.
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In Nantes, Amiens and Nice, railway workers working for regional express trains (TER) will leave SNCF Voyageurs to join “dedicated companies”, signaling the end of the SNCF monopoly on these regional lines. These three “lots” were won during calls for tenders organized by the regions which chose to open their TER networks to competition.
Only two regions (Brittany and Occitanie) have pushed back this deadline as late as the law allowed them, to 2030. By then, almost all TER railway workers will be transferred either to SNCF subsidiaries or to competitors having won the markets – such as Transdev for Nice-Marseille from 2025.
Currently, “nearly 60% of the TER market” is in the tender process, indicates an executive from SNCF Voyageurs. So far, five lots have been awarded (three to SNCF Voyageurs and two to Transdev).
“I call it low-intensity privatization”says Fabien Villedieu, Sud-Rail federal secretary whose union is calling for a strike on Thursday along with the CGT-Cheminots, Unsa-Ferroviaire and the CFDT-Cheminots.
Also read: Budget 2025. “It is enough to no longer run the TER for four months”, the savings requested from communities do not pass
At the end of 2021, Trenitalia was the first company to take advantage of the opening of the French high-speed market. It has since been joined by the Spanish Renfe. But for regional trains, the process was longer. And this “filialization” denounced by the unions, will be accompanied by loss of rights, they insist.
From the transfer of the railway workers, the subsidiary has 15 months to renegotiate all of the SNCF company agreements. “The most important thing is the organization of working time”explains Fabien Villedieu. Namely the number of days of rest in the year, the length of a working day or even the number of nights spent away from home.
The discussions will be carried out on the basis of the branch agreement – less advantageous than that of the SNCF – in order to be competitive, the railway group says.
The general secretary of the CGT-Cheminots, Thierry Nier, denounces “social dumping and deterioration of working conditions” which will result in a deterioration in the quality of service.
Some advantages are nevertheless guaranteed, such as retirement rights for railway workers with status, guaranteed employment or even travel facilities (reduced train tickets).
Also read: Paris – Rennes by train: from April 5 slower Ouigos to attract customers who want to pay less
Gilles Savary, member of the high railway committee, believes that competition will force the SNCF to make productivity gains and therefore lead to a drop in prices.
“All modes of transport that have opened up to competition have experienced a boom”he said, citing the example of air transport with the emergence of low-cost airlines.
In the Nice region, the train supply will increase by 75% from mid-December, assures SNCF Voyageurs. The arrival of Trenitalia on the Paris-Lyon route also made it possible to reduce prices by around 10%, according to the Transport Regulatory Authority (ART).
The competition has “lots of benefits”confirms the president of the National Federation of Transport User Associations (Fnaut), François Delétraz. But it also induces some “perverse effects”he warns. “It must not be done on the three profitable lines and the SNCF must close all the unprofitable lines in France”he worries.
Unlike regional transport, which is largely subsidized, high speed does not receive public money. Historically, the SNCF has been forced by political power to provide unprofitable services (Chambéry, Saint-Malo, Saint-Etienne, etc.) in the name of regional planning.
However, competitors are only positioning themselves on lucrative lines, raising fears that the SNCF will abandon certain services in order to remain competitive.
The government recently took up this issue since the Minister for Transport François Durovray launched a project on the future of regional development services by TGV so that competition “does not benefit only certain territories”.
