Aurélien Fleurot with AFP, edited by Laura Laplaud 2:02 p.m., November 07, 2022

In mid-September, SNCF boss Jean-Pierre Farandou assured that the electricity bill for SNCF Voyageurs should increase by 1.6 to 1.7 billion euros in 2023, bringing with it an increase in ticket prices. of TGV.

Transport Minister Clément Beaune called on the SNCF to work on "a tariff shield" to limit the increase in prices for users.

Energy sobriety has been at the heart of the news for several weeks.

The government encourages the use of the train rather than the car to move but what to do when the train ticket becomes more and more expensive?

The president of the SNCF, Jean-Pierre Farandou, estimates that the rise in energy prices should represent an additional cost for the railway company of 1.7 billion euros next year.

Consequence: the price of TGV tickets could increase by 10%.

The CEO of SNCF, however, wants to be reassuring and promises that the company would not pass on "100% of the costs to customers".

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Save the most modest

Transport Minister Clément Beaune asked SNCF on Sunday to "work on ticket prices on a tariff shield" when these should inevitably increase in 2023 in the face of the explosion in energy prices.

The minister wished "that the increase in banknotes would in any case be lower than inflation".

"And above all that those who need the train on a daily basis, the most modest, young people who use the Ouigo for example, are protected," he said.

Saving the most modest, young people and those who need to use the train on a daily basis, this is the roadmap drawn up by the Ministry of Transport for the SNCF.

This means that the TGV Ouigo, the low-cost offer of the SNCF, should not be too impacted.

On the other hand, for the TER, the regions have the upper hand and some could therefore decide to increase their price, as the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region did: an increase of 8% has already been voted for occasional travelers, from January 1, 2023.

A puzzle for the SNCF

Anyway, it will be a headache for the company which sees on the one hand its energy costs soar, being the first industrial consumer of electricity in France with 10% alone, and on the other share that suffers from the soaring cost of materials to maintain the tracks.