Xavier Bertrand and Jean-Pierre Farandou, president of SNCF, in Lille.

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M.Libert / 20 Minutes

  • Xavier Bertrand, president of Hauts-de-France, and Jean-Pierre Farandou, president of SNCF met this Monday in Lille.

  • They discussed at length the issue of network security and ways to strengthen it.

  • In the region, the coronavirus epidemic caused a drop in TER attendance by 45%.

Small country train.

This Monday morning, the president (LR) of Hauts-de-France, Xavier Bertrand, met the president of the SNCF, Jean-Pierre Farandou, during a partly private visit to Lille-Flandres station.

Relations between the two institutions are tumultuous to say the least around the TER service for which the region spends nearly 500 million each year.

In front of the press, however, the understanding seemed cordial even if the subjects raised were not easy.

Xavier Bertrand and Jean-Pierre Farandou, president of SNCF, in Lille.

- M.Libert / 20 Minutes

In the station hall, the two presidents had a long discussion with a rail security team (SUG) recently equipped with a dog capable of unearthing narcotics and explosives.

"The presence of a defense dog can also make sense, to protect travelers and agents," remarks Xavier Bertrand.

The theme of security seems important for the boss of the region, even if he recognizes that it is not in his attributions: "We will continue to invest in this area, with cameras and human resources", assures he.

The Hauts-de-France are not however left with a thousand SNCF cameras on the territory, including 300 just for the two Lille stations.

“In Lille, we are already well secured,” admits an agent from the SUG.

"But the penal response must follow, reminders of the law are not enough", slips Xavier Bertrand.

45% decrease in TER attendance

After this little campaign digression, the two men got into the hard stuff: the numbers.

The coronavirus epidemic led to a 45% drop in TER frequentation despite some fine commercial operations (ETER and TER Lille-Paris).

However, there is no question of compensating for these with money from the region: "It was balanced by rolling less equipment but there is still a loss in terms of revenue of 5.8%", deplores Franck Dhersin, in charge of transport to the region.

For him, it is in particular teleworking which emptied the trains: "It is absolutely necessary to make return the travelers and to allure public which did not take the train", he adds.

And to attract a different audience, Xavier Bertrand wants an aggressive pricing policy: “The prices, we are discussing.

We have to find solutions.

On some lines, things are improving, we feel that the SNCF wants to do well, ”he admits.

“To make the train popular, it must be accessible with appropriate prices,” adds Jean-Pierre Farandou.

On this, the two presidents agree.

There remains the reliability of the service.

“For regularity problems, there is still work to be done.

I want people to get their money's worth, ”insists Xavier Bertrand.

“We will still invest 1.6 billion euros in four years,” recalls Franck Dhersin.

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  • Train

  • Xavier Bertrand

  • Lille

  • SNCF

  • Transport