This is news that may make travelers cringe. After a increase of 5% in 2023 and 2.6% last year, SNCF has confirmed an average increase of 1.5% this year. The prices have been in effect since Wednesday January 8, but they do not apply to all journeys. Explanations.
Increases, but not for everyone
According to SNCF Voyageurs, this increase will not be applied to the first prices of TGV Inoui and Ouigonor the prices of leisure subscriptions and Advantage cards. This increase, corresponding to an average of €1 per ticket, will be around 1.5%, with a maximum of +1.9% on Intercités trains, for which the State is the organizing authority. With this increase in prices, the operator is satisfied with rise in inflation, and ensures that it aims to protect the purchasing power of its customers. So, “one in two leisure tickets (TGV Inoui and Ouigo) should be purchased for less than €47, all classes and fares combined“, while “three out of four high-speed customers will continue to benefit from a reduced price (Ouigo, Avantage card, promotional offers)“.
Customers' discontent
On the customer side, it is obviously difficult to see how the operation will protect purchasing power. In addition to regular delays on the lines, travelers regularly denounce the continued rise in pricesat a time when the train is trying to impose itself ecologically against planes, as well as the dynamic pricing policy applied by the company based on the occupancy rate of its trains.
To justify this increase, several reasons are given by the SNCF: increase in the cost of energy and tolls, increase in salaries, etc. The increase planned by the SNCF should therefore cover half of the costs incurred for this year. The fact remains that the company's profits are clearly increasing. Train ridership increased by 5% compared to last year on average, with an increase of 6% on TGVs, which benefit from an occupancy rate of 77%, for a slightly smaller fleet compared to 2019. The figures for 2024 are not still fallen, but they promise a sunny summer and a record winter: 130 million people traveled by TGV last year, recall our colleagues from BFMTV.
-Frequent travelers will have to pay
More bad news for customers who travel the most: from April 1 (and this is not a bad joke), Max Actif and Max Actif+ subscriptions will be increased by 4% on average, without taking into account the anniversary date of the planned renewal. In total, the 20,000 travelers who make more than two round trips per week will have to put their hands in their wallets.
For their part, the 2,000 customers who have subscribed to the TGV Inoui Weekly/Monthly Pass packages (formerly the Weekly and Monthly high-speed lines) will see their subscription increase by 10% from January 29.
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