The SNCF had promised not to increase the prices of its high-speed trains by more than 5%. The promise of President Jean-Pierre Farandouformulated on - in mid-December, goes “pschitt”. This is the observation made by the Transport Regulatory Authority, Thursday June 27, suffice to say that the figure does not suffer any controversy. An increase of 7% is clearly a price catch-up on the part of the SNCF after the sharp drop linked to the health crisis.
The increase in the average ticket price hides disparities. The Transport Regulatory Authority notes that the low-cost OUIGO offer has increased by 10% over one year (between 2022 and 2023). Some 10% increase while general inflation stood at 4.8%. Another observation made by the administration: the higher the train occupancy rate, the more prices increase.
A degraded offer
Prices are increasing, but the number of available trains is decreasing. The service provided is therefore less efficient for the user, the customer. This drop in the volume of available trains is due to the various strikes that have punctuated 2023. The Regulatory Authority emphasizes that, without these social movements, the TGV transport offer would have increased by 2%. Ticket prices are increasing faster than inflation, of course, but for high-speed connections, fares remain lower today than in 2019, before the Covid crisis.
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**This SNCF price catch-up coincides with a growing popularity for the train. This type of transport, and it is a European phenomenon, is increasingly popular with customers wishing to save money and opt for less polluting transport. A boon for competition from international companies which are gaining market share in France, more qualitative, less expensive. A real daily challenge for the SNCF.
