- Railcoop wants to take advantage of the opening up to competition in the rail sector to interfere in the rail market.
- The cooperative company would like to operate the Bordeaux-Lyon line by 2022, via Limoges, Montluçon, Roanne…
- The journey would be 6:47, but Railcoop wants to offer a whole range of services on board.
- The objective is to gain market share from cars.
Become a new rail player in France. This is the ambition of Railcoop. Based in the Lot, this cooperative company wants to rush into opening up to competition, started last December and which will continue to accelerate, to offer an alternative transport offer.
Railcoop's niche is to rehabilitate interregional train lines abandoned by the SNCF. To start, by mid-2022, with the Bordeaux-Lyon link, which has not been in service since 2014. It would pass through the stations of Libourne, Périgueux, Limoges, Guéret, Montluçon, Gannat, Saint-Germain- des-Fossés, Roanne. Railcoop is already looking at other routes, notably Thionville-Metz-Nancy-Lyon without passing through Strasbourg, and Rennes-Toulouse via Le Mans, Tours, Poitiers, Limoges and Montauban.
930 members at present
Born at the beginning of 2019, the Railcoop project became a cooperative society of collective interest last November 30. "Today, there are around 930 members (citizens, railway workers, companies, communities, etc.), and we are gaining new ones every day," explains Nicolas Debaisieux, CEO of Railcoop , at 20 Minutes . This represents roughly 270,000 euros of share capital, knowing that we need at least 1.5 million euros to obtain the passenger rail license from the transport regulatory authority. "
A sum that the company hopes to reach by the end of the year, knowing that this floor will not be enough to start. “To launch our first Bordeaux-Lyon line, we need funding of 4.6 million euros, to cover the advance that we have to pay on fees to SNCF Réseau, the costs of training staff … ”
"Our positioning is not to go on the regional public service"
At the same time, Railcoop is also in discussions with the two regions concerned, which are the organizing authorities for transport on their territories. "Our positioning is not to go on regional public service, insists the Director General, but on free services, which complement the offer of the regions. "
We must clearly distinguish the two segments born from the opening to competition last December, which will continue in December with the possibility given to other companies than the SNCF to run in France: the creation of a market " free ”, on which Railcoop is positioned, and where it is the company which defines the line which it wants to operate, and the lines set up by the State or the regions, which must henceforth be subject to a call for tenders, this is currently the case for Bordeaux-Nantes and Nantes-Lyon. This will be the case for railway lines in New Aquitaine from 2024, the date on which the agreement between SNCF and the region will come to an end.
"Not the same profitability criteria as other more traditional operators"
The interregional lines targeted by Railcoop, roughly correspond to the old Intercités lines, abandoned by the SNCF. "The State asked him to favor the TGV, and to focus on mass transport, analyzes Nicolas Debaisieux. We are convinced of their potential, especially since as a cooperative society, we do not have the same profitability criteria as other more traditional operators. "
Railcoop is also convinced that there is “a fairly considerable margin for improvement in productivity, which would allow us to be viable on this line. "For example," we could run our trains three times more than those of the SNCF, because we have flattened the issues of equipment maintenance cycles, and staff rotation. "
A rate aligned with carpooling, about 38 euros per trip
The journey time on its Bordeaux-Lyon link would be 6:47. “We want to take market share from the car, with which we are competitive. This is why we will focus on catering and on-board services, in particular the possibility of carrying bulky luggage such as skis. "The market potential estimated to date, would be 690,000 travelers per year," of which 85% would come from the car. "
When it comes to fares, Railcoop wants to align itself with those used in carpooling, "that is to say roughly 38 euros each way. The company also estimates that 50% of its customers will use the line for coasting trade, that is to say to stop on the way, in Limoges or Montluçon for example.
"We start from far anyway"
Contacted by 20 Minutes , Renaud Lagrave, vice-president of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in charge of transport, tells us that he met Railcoop last Tuesday. “Their system is interesting, especially if it adds frequencies and trains to a territory that needs it. We already operate Bordeaux-Montluçon, so we will have to work together to find new timetables to operate. "
The elected official also ensures that he looks “with a good eye” at the arrival on the market “of an operator from the social and solidarity economy, who is not there only to make dividends. "However, he adds that" we start from far anyway: they do not have their authorization to operate, and their equipment is not yet compatible across the board ... "
In discussion with Alstom to order 14 trains
Launching a rail link is indeed an obstacle course. Railcoop is not at the end of its pain. To begin with, there is the question of equipment, "the hard point of the project", recognizes Nicolas Debaisieux. “We are in discussions with Alstom to order 14 Régiolis trainsets by the end of the year, for which it will take an manufacturing period of eighteen months. »Oars at 11 million euros each. However, Railcoop will have them bought by a third party, to whom it will then rent the equipment. "But these renters are asking us for expensive bank guarantees, which is why we wish to benefit from a State guarantee to facilitate this investment. "
Next comes the question of personnel. “We would need a hundred people to operate the Bordeaux-Lyon line: 43 full-time equivalent in on-board staff (drivers, controllers), around forty staff in stations (counters, passenger services) and the rest depending on support and rail safety. "
Another difficulty is the question of train movements. “Where it looks complicated is that in our offer there is a proposal for a night link, to compete with the coaches which also offer a journey at night. Except that night work takes place on the track, we will have to see how we manage to get between the different traffic interruptions. "
"The territories we will serve benefit from the post-Covid effect"
Nothing in all of this is likely to discourage Railcoop, convinced that its project is in tune with the times. Especially after the Covid-19 crisis. “There are signals showing that the intermediate territories that we are going to serve benefit from this post-Covid effect. Take Creuse: there is an explosion of sales promises for houses in this department. "
Nicolas Debaisieux also highlights “a fundamental trend”: Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Rhône-Alpes, “are very dynamic regions from a demographic point of view, therefore transport flows are growing. "And there is also" the oil crisis, with an increase in prices coming, which will raise the question of the use of the car. "
Previously in charge of greenhouse gas emission issues for maritime and air transport at the European Commission, Nicolas Debaisieux insists on the environmental value of the Railcoop project. “We are convinced that to reach our climate objectives, we will have to reduce the share of our road transport, and the most effective way is to use what already exists, that is to say the train. "
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