To “the fellow citizens of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, I am afraid to say that there are still a few difficult years ahead,” declared Bernard Lejeune, president of the regional audit office (CRC), this Thursday.
The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regional audit office criticized the SNCF’s rail policy in a report on Thursday and predicted a “investment wall” of at least 3.8 billion euros for the region by 2035.
“Today, every day, at least thirty trains are missing” to ensure the transport plan in good conditions, indicated the president of the regional audit office (CRC) Bernard Lejeune, during a press conference Thursday in Lyon. The second railway network after the Ile-de-France, the regional express trains of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes transport nearly 220,000 passengers every day. But while the use of TER has increased since 2017, the number of trains has not changed. “The consequences for passengers are an increase in overloaded trains (…) and a significant number of cancelled trains”the SNCF being unable to replace broken down or damaged trains or “simply not having enough oars”the CRC report underlines.
To “Fellow citizens of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, I am afraid to say that there are still a few difficult years ahead” said Bernard Lejeune, emphasizing that the regional railway fleet, “one of the oldest in France”has not been renewed over time. “The delays in the delivery of trains, the cancellation of equipment, the heavy maintenance programs and the necessary replacement of CORAIL are not likely to improve the quality of service provided”the report details. “To successfully modernize and expand its fleet, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region will be faced with an investment wall that will amount to, at a minimum, 3.8 billion euros until 2035.”evaluates the CRC, a financial effort “not comparable to the one carried out” since 2017.
Maintenance could be improved
The report points to poorly optimized maintenance, poorly located and undersized technical centers and dated infrastructures lacking equipment. It also highlights “bias” in the SNCF satisfaction surveys, which do not take into account passengers on cancelled trains. A satisfaction survey carried out by the chamber concluded that 53% of users were satisfied and very satisfied, compared to 87% according to the SNCF surveys.
This report, which follows a referral from Laurent Wauquiez in 2022, recommends that the region: “take back ownership of railway equipment and maintenance infrastructure”. Since December 2023, the regions must launch calls for tenders to open the operation of the lines to competition within a maximum period of ten years. The region, which elected Fabrice Pannekoucke (LR) as its head on Thursday to succeed Laurent Wauquiez, regularly advocates for massive state investment in transport, a position that the opposition criticizes it for. “We need to invest massively in train sets. We need to stop procrastinating with the State. We need to work alongside it to invest and modernize the railway infrastructure.” demanded the regional ecologist Maxime Meyer on Thursday.
