Tourism: SNCF awaits "the summer of all records"

Europe 1 with AFP 10:38 a.m., June 16, 2022

SNCF is counting on a "historic record" this summer, driven by "an appetite for tourism in France" now that the Covid-19 pandemic seems to have passed, said in an interview with AFP the CEO of SNCF Voyageurs, Christophe Fanichet.

The summer of 2021 had already been quite good for an SNCF bled white by the coronavirus, with the return of almost all travelers compared to 2019, before the pandemic.

Christophe Fanichet then saw "a real patch of blue sky".

This time, he is waiting for "the summer of all records".

Great weather, making it possible to forget the storm.

There is a "real craze for holidays in France", and the French are starting to plan their holidays again when they have tended for the past two years to decide at the last moment.

With, rejoices Christophe Fanichet, "a desire for a train".

“We are really picking up a dynamic of growth in attendance and anticipation,” he observes.

And "we will exceed 2019", the previous record summer, predicts the manager whose field includes passenger trains, TGV, Intercités, TER and Parisian suburbs.

No strike threat in sight, he said.

“All the railway workers appreciate seeing so many customers on board the trains. They have been there throughout the Covid period and it is thanks to them that the trains go out every day and that we prepare for the summer”, underlines- he.

No worries either, "at this stage", for the new variants of Covid-19, the mask being well and truly forgotten.

SNCF had sold 6.5 million TGV tickets on Wednesday for travel in July and August, 10% more than in mid-June in 2019 (and 50% more than last year on the same date) .

All the trains go out

This trend is a continuation of the +10% already observed on high speed in May and June, leisure and weekend attendance of TER, without reservation, having increased in parallel by 20%, he adds.

The weekends of July 8-9 and the July 14 weekend are already busy, notes Christophe Fanichet.

"On the bridge of July 14, we already have one in two TGVs which is full for the returns of the 17th."

In this respect, Christophe Fanichet is a little annoyed when some already mention a shortage of train tickets: "Today, we should be at the SNCF the only tourism professionals not to congratulate ourselves on having success this summer. There is an appetite for tourism in France and we are an illustration of this!" 

"The whole fleet will go out, there will be no trains in reserve," he assures.

A 2% increase in capacity

SNCF Voyageurs has also put on sale 500,000 additional seats compared to summer 2019, i.e. "a little more than 2%" more capacity, "where there are the most people, towards the Mediterranean, the South-West and Brittany".

With one regret: welding problems at Alstom which prevented the commissioning of new additional TGVs.

Of course, tickets purchased late on already full trains are more expensive.

But three out of four will be purchased "at a reduced price" this summer, notes Christophe Fanichet.

"The average basket (the average price paid by customers) is falling", with the success of discount cards, promotions and the development of the low-cost TGV Ouigo, he underlines, recalling that the last rise in the price of high-speed trains dates back to 2014.

For TER, all regions have launched promotions promoting tourist routes, he notes.

But they did not wish to renew the "Pass TER Jeune", summer subscription which allowed 12-25 year olds to travel on all regional lines for 29 euros per month in 2020 and 2021.