French transport secretary Alain Vidal has unveiled a multi-billion euro investment plan to give a boost to the country’s struggling intercity rail services.
On July 7, the French government announced that plans to put €1.5 billion towards the procurement of new rolling stock to replace the existing fleet, which has an average age of 35 years.
An additional €2 billion will fund the modernisation of the infrastructure between 2015 and 2020. The majority of this will focus on the TET network.
The TET ‘roadmap’ also recommends a new operating agreement between the state and SNCF Mobility that would give the government more control over the organisation of intercity services.
In November 2014, Vidal assembled a committee tasked with turning around the fortunes of the country’s ailing intercity rail service, which has seen passenger numbers fall by around 20 per cent since 2011.
By the end of 2014, SNCF had spent more than €300 million on the intercity TET service, of which only 6 per cent is subsidised by the government.
Without intervention, the operating deficit could rise to €450 million by 2016, the government has said.
