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Occitanie launches the free train for young people

2021-02-08T05:31:19.204Z


The offer will be accessible to 18-26 year olds, a first in France. Only condition, to make several return trips per month in TER.


"The good times train at a good price"!

This SNCF slogan from the early 1980s, the Occitanie region could make its own.

The fifth most populous region in France with nearly six million inhabitants presents this Monday two measures to relieve the portfolio of TER - regional express train users.

The first concerns young people aged 18 to 26.

From April 1 until August 31, 2,000 of them will test the free use of the Occitan TER on its 2,453 km of tracks, or 20 lines.

The experiment will then be generalized to all of this age group from September.

A first in France.

The idea germinated after the "low prices" operation organized this summer to boost Occitan tourism.

Second sector of activity in the region after aeronautics, the ambition was to attract people to the land of the Cathar castles despite the shadow of the Covid-19.

And the result exceeded the expectations of the region, with TER attendance up 13% compared to the summer of 2019 when the national average was depressing -25%.

Above all, of the 1.2 million tickets sold at 1 euro between July 1 and August 31, more than half were purchased by those under 26.

A cost of 1.5 million euros for nearly 5,000 young people

In this land of rugby, it was a question of transforming the trial with a lasting tempting offer for young people.

If the free offer offered this Monday is very real, it is obtained through a somewhat convoluted process.

“The first five round trips are half price,” explains Jean-Luc Gibelin vice-president (PCF) for Transport.

From the sixth, all journeys are free.

And from the fifteenth, you start free for the following month on all journeys ”.

A complexity assumed by the regional executive: "We reward loyalty," he pleads.

The more you use transport, the less you pollute, the more you help the community.

In return, the community helps you.

It is virtuous!

".

But as Gart (Group of authorities responsible for transport) insists: "Free access does not exist".

Indeed, if it is not the user who pays, it is the taxpayer.

In France, a public transport ticket is financed on average around 75% by taxpayer money.

The user pays only 25%.

of the actual price.

The free education measure put in place by Occitanie will cost the region's budget 1.5 million and will affect between 4,000 and 5,000 young people.

"We want transport to be as cheap as possible," assumes Carole Delga, socialist president of the Occitanie region.

This is a fundamental policy that we have been pursuing for five years.

Especially in this period, we must give back purchasing power to people.

And it is this age group that you have to get used to taking the trains ”.

In addition to free admission, a few months before the regional elections, originally scheduled for March and which were postponed until June, the Socialist Republican and Citizen of Occitan majority establishes from March 1 a cap on the transport subscription at 90 euros for instead of 190 euros.

Concretely, 2,200 of the 10,000 subscribers will see their bill drop by an average of 50 euros per year.

Cost of the measure: one million euros.

“Our TER tickets are the cheapest in France,” prides herself on Carole Delga.

It's not me saying it, it's SNCF ”.

"We will have to set out to win back our customers"

A trend towards low prices that can be found in most of the 12 French regions where TERs circulate (except in Ile-de-France).

“Since they became the organizing authority (

Editor's note: January 1, 2002

), the Regions have been driving forces in the construction of local offers,” notes SNCF.

So recently, they have adapted to teleworking.

Whether they are called Flexi'Pass in Normandy, Teleworking Subscriber Pass in New Aquitaine or Zou!

Teleworking in Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur, local authorities offer specific subscriptions to those who come to the office only part of the week.

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Adaptability vital for TER.

After years of growth and a year 2019 which saw regional trains transporting 1.1 million passengers per day, 2020, because of the Covid, recorded a decrease of -35%.

Recently, Christophe Fanichet, CEO of SNCF-Voyageurs recognized this: "We will have to set out to win back our customers".

In Occitania, the objective was set at 2030, with 100,000 passengers transported per day against 66,000 today.

Source: leparis

All business articles on 2021-02-08

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