Illustration of an SNCF TER at Lille Flandres station. - M. Libert / 20 Minutes

"A summer like no other". This is how the summer break is announced for the SNCF, which expects to welcome 20 million passengers on its trains during this period still marked by the coronavirus crisis.

Last year, French stations saw 25 million passengers pass. But the health crisis went through there.

"The French really want a vacation, they want to breathe," said SNCF Voyageurs CEO Christophe Fanichet, interviewed by AFP. And to add: "Today, we have French people who want to discover France".

35% booking in August

But if reservations reached the same levels as last year on the same dates, "we have not caught up, we still have a lot of seats on our trains," says the manager, who promises free exchanges and refunds until the end of August. For the moment, 20% of trains are full on weekends and occupancy rates of around 50% in July and 35% in August.

SNCF has however quadrupled the number of tickets sold at low prices, both in TGV and Intercités as in TER.

2⃣ In collaboration with all #TER regions, we wanted to facilitate the holidays of French people who will be touring in our country this summer by launching the #TERdeFrance operation. pic.twitter.com/rbb22fq3eU

- SNCF Group (@GroupeSNCF) June 16, 2020

To explain this delay in booking, Christophe Fanichet believes that there is the uncertainty of being able to travel serenely everywhere in France, the legitimate questions of the French about their own future. "All our travelers will be able to travel in complete health security", he assures, adding that the wearing of the mandatory mask and the cleaning of trains has been reinforced.

The first weekend of major departures on vacation, 800,000 travelers are expected on the TGV and Intercités trains, which will be referred to stations by 1,500 "red vests". The public company expects "a little over 1.5 million" travelers over the following weekend including the July 14 bridge.

Trip

Summer holidays: SNCF launches an unlimited TER Pass for 12-25 year olds

Economy

SNCF must cancel trains for this summer due to insufficient reservations

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