The railway company feared the worst and finally, the choice of the French to spend their holidays in France mainly made it possible to fill the trains, especially during the weekends, with 8 million passengers in July. A breakthrough for SNCF which, with the coronavirus crisis, saw its turnover drop by 21% in the first half of the year and which is awaiting financial assistance from the State.
3 million banknotes under 49 euros
With 10% growth in July, compared to last year, the success of the OUIGO, SNCF's low-cost TGVs, proves that customers have preferred low prices to travel this summer. A lot more last minute bookings than usual, but trains 80% full on weekends. Some 3 million tickets under 49 euros were sold on TGV and Intercités.
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All this will obviously not make it possible to make up for the losses of the spring, but it is a source of relief for the SNCF. "If we try to look at the overall results of the summer, we consider that there will be around 16 million French people who traveled by high speed TGV and OuiGo this summer", specifies Jérôme Lafont, Marketing Director of Voyages SNCF . "This is 15% less than last year, which was a year with very high attendance, so ultimately a much better result than we could have imagined a few weeks ago."
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5 billion euros loss
And to retain its summer customers, the SNCF has just launched a new offer and is offering its 50% reduction cards, 25 euros for Advantage cards, until September 7. They allow tickets to be purchased at -30% for adults and -60% for children. The return on the duration of passengers in trains is vital for SNCF, which will have lost nearly 5 billion euros between the strikes of last winter and the Covid crisis.