They are impatiently awaiting the “rail reconquest” plan announced by Jean Castex. While the recovery plan will be specified on September 3, rail freight operators hope that it will finally give them the means to put goods back on trains on a long-term basis.
Railway companies, multimodal transport operators and shippers have formed an alliance called 4F (for “French rail freight of the future”). In June, they presented costed proposals exceeding 16 billion euros by 2030.
Reach 18% of domestic transport by 2030
They argue for doubling the share of rail freight, from 9% to 18% of internal freight transport in France by 2030, when the road currently provides 89%. That is the current average of the European Union… knowing that Brussels intends to reach 30% at the same time. An objective taken up by the Citizen's Convention for the Climate.
The various recovery plans for the sector and its liberalization in 2006 did not succeed in halting its decline. Freight convoys - which systematically pass after travelers - are slow, they are penalized by work on the network, they are sacrificed at the slightest strike ... Not to mention noise pollution, with often old equipment running at night.
A project presented at Bercy
The 4F alliance presented its project in Bercy last week. “The costing has been refined” with the Ministry of Transport and SNCF Réseau, its coordinator Franck Tuffereau told AFP.
A first effort in 2021-2024 would be dedicated to “safeguarding” what already exists, according to Franck Tuffereau. Evaluated at around 2.8 billion euros, it would concern "small lines, service tracks and the highest priority items to be able to revive the sector, including lower tolls" (the running rights of trains paid to SNCF Réseau).
Renovation of small lines
The alliance plans, for example, to devote 63 million euros to the renovation of capillaries, local lines only used by freight trains, when SNCF Réseau intended to put 40 million, he noted.
The profession is also asking for attractive traffic slots for freight, aid for transhipping containers from trucks to trains and a boost from “isolated wagons” which make tailor-made circuits.
Modernize infrastructure
Over the period "2025-2030, we are rather on an envelope of 13 billion euros" with major work to modernize and adapt the infrastructure, adds Franck Tuffereau. The Minister for Transport Jean-Baptiste Djebbari was encouraging. "We are going to make sure to invest a lot in infrastructure," he said at the end of July, without giving any amount.
For the alliance, this involves in particular ridding metropolitan areas such as Lyon and Bordeaux of transit freight trains - which will also benefit passengers - and upgrading the rail tracks to run taller, heavier and more trains. longer.
Short-term "survival plan"
In the shorter term, operators will also need “a survival plan for the sector, to allow activity to continue at roughly the current level”, according to SNCF CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou.
"Economic activity is shrinking, there are fewer orders from our customers and unfortunately we have good customers affected by the crisis: the steel industry, the automobile industry, etc." he told AFP.
Free tolls
To compensate for the losses accumulated due to the winter railway strike and the health crisis, the government will already grant free passages on national railways until the end of the year, then half the fare. next year. The State will therefore pay 126 million euros in tolls to SNCF Réseau.
Jean Castex has also already announced that he will help launch new "rail highways", services allowing trucks to be put on trains to cross the country. He also wants to see the Perpignan-Rungis “primeurs train” set off again, which has been stationary for a year.
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