A report from the transport authority highlights the ever-increasing attraction of the French for the train, despite disruptions and price increases.
Rail is popular in France. Train attendance increased by 5% in 2023 compared to 2022, confirming the growing appetite of the French for this means of transport.
“The train is the only mode of transport to have exceeded its pre-crisis (Covid-19) attendance level in France by 2023,” states the Transport Regulatory Authority in a report published Wednesday, December 18, specifying that the share of trips made by train is increasing (10.4%) to the detriment of car and plane on domestic connections.
Fewer TGVs in circulation, but better filled
Compared to 2019, regional train (TER) attendance has even jumped by 21% while that of TGVs has increased by 6%.
However, there are fewer trains than five years ago since the SNCF
has shed nearly 40 TGVs in the meantime, even if the current trains offer more seats than the old ones.
According to a survey by the specialist firm Transmissions, the number of TGVs in circulation has fallen sharply in a decade,
after reaching its peak in 2012, with 482 trains. By summer 2023, the TGV fleet had been reduced by 22% compared to 2012, with 376 trains.
TGVs are therefore increasingly full, with a record occupancy rate reaching 77% in 2023.
However, the price of high-speed travel continues to increase, particularly low-cost services like Ouigo.
Last year, prices increased by 10% on this type of service, while the price of the classic TGV increased by 6%. These price increases, combined with better filling of the trains, allowed the SNCF to increase its revenues “which returned to their 2019 level”.
“The quality of service of the rail offer has deteriorated again in 2023,” also noted the ART. Not only have there been fewer scheduled trains, but strikes against pension reform and bad weather – which mainly affects TER trains – have caused punctuality to drop.
“The number of trains that actually ran and arrived on time at their terminus compared to the number of trains planned” thus increased from 81% in 2022 to 78% last year. In five years,
the supply of high-speed trains also decreased by 15% due to the withdrawal of several trainsets.
The network is not getting any younger
Unlike passenger transport, rail freight experienced a dark year in 2023 with a 17% drop in goods transported. The share of rail in freight transport has therefore deteriorated further, falling below 9%, far from the European average.
Finally, the ART alerts on the state of the network. Although maintenance investments increased in 2023, they remain lower than 2019 levels and simply make it possible to stabilize the age of the infrastructure (28.4 years), without renewing it.
