Towards a return to normal train attendance?
For the February holidays, which start in barely two weeks for zone B, "
reservations are at a good level
", declared this Tuesday morning Christophe Fanichet, CEO of SNCF Voyageurs, guest on Franceinfo.
"
On the big departure weekends, we find the pre-Covid levels
," he said, pointing out that some weekends were already full.
During the week, on the other hand, SNCF Voyageurs observes “
a drop of around 30%
”.
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For zone B, the winter holidays will take place from February 5 to 21.
For zone A, from February 12 to 28.
And for zone C, from February 19 to March 7.
"
The French want to go on vacation, they have planned to leave for a long time
," assured Christophe Fanichet.
Telecommuting disrupts habits
The Covid-19 also still has “
an impact on
train
traffic
”, said the boss of SNCF Voyageurs.
On the TER and the Transilien, it amounts to “
80%
” of what it is in normal times.
The impact of the pandemic is “greater on long-distance trains, with “
30%
” less traffic.
Read alsoSNCF: in 2021, the train lost 29% of its 2019 customers
The health crisis, with the generalization of telework, has also profoundly changed the habits of the French.
“
Before we were talking about rush hours, now we are talking about peak days
”, pointed out Christophe Fanichet, stressing that on Tuesday there were “
25% more travelers compared to Friday
”.
Remote work “
shakes up leisure
”, also noted the boss of SNCF Voyageurs.
"
We have peaks from Thursday evening until Monday evening
", against Friday to Sunday so far.
