2024-01-19 11:38:50
“Train appetite”, a cherished expression of the SNCF management, is confirmed and strengthened. SNCF Voyageurs achieved another record year in 2023. The railway company transported a total of 122 million customers on French rails in its TGVs, a figure up 4% compared to the previous year. By adding its activities abroad, with OUIGO in Spain, the number of passengers transported peaks at 155 million, an increase of 6%.
“We were convinced that the French appetite for trains was sustainable, this year confirms it once more,” says Christophe Fanichet, CEO of SNCF Voyageurs. We are in a golden age of trains and we are entering a virtuous circle for rail. » Furthermore, the company has seen professional customers return to its TGVs, “one year ahead” of its forecasts.
Other activities (Transiliens, TER, Intercités) also benefit from this “positive dynamic”. In Île-de-France, the lines operated by SNCF saw their attendance jump by 6%. For the TER, managed by the twelve regions, the increase is 8%, and 6.5% for the Intercités, subsidized by the State and poor parents of high speed, which transported 11 million people per year. last year. This peak in attendance does not mask the difficulties and recurring problems of regularity of daily trains in particular.
Saturated trains
Also, these figures have led to a phenomenon of “saturation”, particularly in TGVs, “limiting growth”. According to SNCF Voyageurs, one in three ran full throughout the year. Lacking trains, the group is “impatiently awaiting”, underlines Christophe Fanichet, the delivery of the first TGV M to increase its capacity. Originally planned for 2023, they were postponed to 2025.
“We will continue our efforts to offer more places, by increasing train rotations,” specifies the CEO of SNCF Voyageurs. We will increase capacity by hundreds of thousands of additional seats. But there will be no miracle. » Using this lever, inspired by low-cost air travel, the SNCF put “500,000 additional seats” on the market last summer.
At what price ? The company does not communicate on the average price paid by its customers, although it has applied an increase of “5% on average” in 2023. However, it notes an anticipation in the purchase of tickets, to protect itself from prices students. “One in two was purchased more than twenty-four days before departure,” explains Christophe Fanichet. That’s three days more than in 2022.”
This habit should be confirmed, or even increased, in 2024. The SNCF is planning a new increase in its price list. If OUIGO and Intercités tickets remain frozen, those of the TGV will rise within “the limit of inflation”. It is forecast at 2.6%, according to forecasts.
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