In a report published on Tuesday, the Court of Auditors evokes "the financial impasse" in which is found the subsidiary Station and Connection of the SNCF, which would no longer have the means to ensure the maintenance of its 3,000 stations spread over all the territory. 

Bad news is piling up for SNCF, already well impacted by the coronavirus epidemic.

According to a report by the Court of Auditors published on Tuesday, the railway company, and more precisely its branch in charge of stations, would no longer have the means to maintain them. 

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Each year, SNCF must invest one billion euros to ensure the modernization of its 3,000 stations.

However, the magistrates of the Court of Auditors reveal that its subsidiary Gare and Connexion has only 400 million of self-financing capacity per year, the magistrates even speaking of "financial impasse".

Several projects postponed 

For the SNCF, two options: either it borrows money to make up the difference between its needs and its means, and to maintain its investment program, or it partly gives up projects. And the group opted for the second solution. If the works in the large Parisian stations, in particular the Gare du Nord, are maintained because they are too expensive to stop now, this will not be the case in smaller stations, where several renovation projects will be postponed while waiting for better days. .

But will the company one day be able to find the means to maintain this heritage?

Nothing is less sure.

Because this station problem is in fact the symptom of a much more serious crisis.

The financial state of the company is very critical today, SNCF having lost 3 billion euros last year.

Despite a 4 billion state recapitalization, the Covid crisis literally brought it to its knees with a traffic collapse.

The TGV has so far lost two thirds of its passengers, yet it is the main source of revenue for the SNCF.

How can the SNCF get by?

The SNCF can first of all make savings, its operating costs are still very high. It can also borrow money on the markets, because its signature remains good with investors. The company will also sell assets, and has just announced the sale to a consortium of 100,000 freight cars for 3.2 billion euros. But in the end, the most likely is that its shareholder, the State, will still be forced to put his hand in his pocket.