“No one will thank us. But if we stumble, the Games will go badly.” Coming to present in person the system dedicated to the Olympic summer this Friday, SNCF CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou highlighted the central role of his company during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. In a usually busy summer period, public transport for the Games represents “a challenge that we will take on” assured the one who will leave office at the end of the summer.
Nearly half a million spectators are expected every day around the competition sites during the Olympic Games, 300,000 during the JP. So major operational resources will be deployed. “The whole park is involved”, indicated Jean-Pierre Farandou. In Île-de-France, the transport plan adapted to the event calendar provides for the deployment of 4,500 additional trains, 370 others will be put in place in the other host regions. In total, 56 stations are affected by the system, including 44 in Île-de-France, and 79% of the Olympic sites will be served by SNCF.
50,000 railway workers deployed to stations for reception missions
The carrier is also working extra hard on the ground to manage the flow of passengers that is highly concentrated in some places. Accustomed to receiving 4,000 passengers per day in normal times, the Vaires-Torcy station is preparing to receive 30,000 daily during the Olympic Games, with peaks of 8,000 passengers per hour. Around 50,000 railway workers will be deployed to provide reception services at the station, in addition to 6,000 volunteers mobilized internally and 5,000 temporary workers recruited for the summer. Security is also receiving particular attention with 400 additional agents recruited in 2023.
“Transporting athletes is part of our DNA, also added Didier Schwartz, director of the 2024 Olympics program for SNCF. We will transport 80 teams, including 60 football teams.” The other 20 will be handball and basketball teams which will travel between Lille and Paris. A special train will also be deployed between Marseille and Charles-de-Gaulle airport station, on July 26 and 27, to allow all athletes in the sailing events to participate in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on the Seine. .
Two months after the end-of-career agreement signed with the unions and three weeks after the validation of another agreement specific to the Games, Jean-Pierre Farandou brushed aside any concerns about the social climate: “It was obvious that we had to calm the social atmosphere because the SNCF is essential to the Games. No one at the SNCF wants to disrupt the Olympic Games.”
