French government has set out new
ambitions for infrastructure maintenance and renewals to meet growing demand
for passenger and freight services.
IN response to the strong expected growth in rail traffic in the coming
years, the French government has drawn up an ambitious performance contract for
infrastructure manager SNCF Network for the period 2024-2033 to support the
development of passenger and freight services.
The draft
contract confirms an unprecedented investment effort to regenerate and
modernise the rail network, with the aim of improving reliability, capacity,
and resilience to climate change. The objective is to enable the provision of more
trains, better service to passengers and businesses, and to continue making
rail a cornerstone of the ecological transition in transport.
Four main priorities
The draft
contract opened for consultation with stakeholders on June 2 with a view to
signing in autumn, and has four main priorities:
• meeting
growing demand from the French public for rail transport by increasing the
number of trains operating on the network by 25% by 2033. This is aimed at
accommodating growth in SNCF traffic as well as the arrival of new entrants
operating high-speed services. It also foresees growth in rail freight traffic
by 20%, although a much-reduced ambition compared with the doubling of traffic
previously expected between 2021 and 2030. Growth is also anticipated in regional
passenger services, particularly through the creation of Regional Metropolitan
Express Service (Serm) networks serving major urban areas.
• increasing
investment in network regeneration and modernisation by 50% compared with the
previous contract. From 2028, €4.5bn per year will be spent on network renewal,
increasing annual track renewals from 750km to 1000km a year and catenary
renewals by 25% to 330km a year. Deployment of ETCS will be prioritised on the
LGV Nord and Atlantique high-speed lines
• adapting rail
infrastructure to climate change through modifications to maintenance and
monitoring of the network, especially in “vulnerable” areas, changes in
operating practices and increasing work on 1500V dc catenary which is not only
the oldest in France but also in the country’s warmest regions, and
• continuing to
strengthen the operational and financial performance requirements of SNCF
Network by reducing debt by 25% by the end of the contract and increasing free
cash flow by €550m by 2030. The contract includes the “golden rule” of debt not
exceeding six times Ebitda.
Investment package
The government
outlined a major investment package for rail in February, with its proposed
Transport Package earmarking an additional €1.5bn annually for SNCF Network to
provide a total of €4.5bn annually to support infrastructure renewals and
upgrades. The government will also conduct annual reviews to monitor SNCF
Network’s performance and achievement of its objectives under the new plan.
“There is a huge
appetite for trains in our country: passenger traffic has increased by 18% on
high-speed lines and by 40% on regional express trains (TER) since 2019 and
this momentum will continue,” says French minister of transport, Philippe
Tabarot.
“With this draft
contract, the state is setting clear, ambitious, and transparent objectives for
SNCF Network regarding network availability and performance, ensuring that
passenger and freight traffic can operate with the highest possible level of
service quality.
“The framework
law for transport development, currently under review in Parliament, extends
this ambition by defining a new financing model for our infrastructure from
2032 onwards, which will secure and sustain these investments over the long
term.”
