The Neuchâtel Council of State supports TransN. The cantonal executive announced Monday that the recapitalization of the public transport company was conditional on a financial restructuring of the latter. This decision comes after long months of “reinforced attention” from the government during which it sought to understand the significant increase in costs and the need for cantonal subsidies from TransN.
Impact on budgets
For the Council of State, this increasing demand “impacts the cantonal budget, but also that of the municipalities”. It also warns of the risks that this situation represents regarding the conditions of co-financing of regional traffic by the Confederation. The Canton also notes having observed that the increases at TransN are “substantially higher than those of other transport companies during the same period”. For the authorities, external factors, such as inflation, the Covid crisis or energy costs, as well as internal factors explain these additional needs. Finally, the Council of State recalls that the volume of TransN services has remained relatively stable in recent years.
Results in spring 2025
Based on this observation, the Canton, in collaboration with the Board of Directors of TransN, entered a new phase of external audit. The goal is to understand “the structural causes of these cost increases” in order to be able to take the necessary optimization measures. Operational and strategic work will soon be established and synergies with other public transport companies. The results will be known in spring 2025 and subsequently, a report on the sanitation and recapitalization of transN will be sent to the Grand Council in the summer. The Council of State, however, recalls that the restructuring of the company is a condition for its recapitalization.
A capital that must be tripled
Today, TransN has a share capital of just over 15 million (15,528,030) francs. In an interview given to RTN, Patrick Vuilleumier, director of the public transport company, explained in September that recapitalization was “necessary”. He also insisted on the fact that it was necessary to triple current capital “to face future challenges, including decarbonization”. /comm-dpi
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