Tickets for the Occitanie regional express train network, the TER "ilO", will be offered at the price of one euro every first weekend of the month and during pollution peaks, announced Tuesday the president of the region, Carole Delga.
“
It will be better to book!
", launched Carole Delga during a press conference, pleading for a "
shock of the offer
" in order to amplify "
the desire to take the train
" in a region which has already seen the number of users of the rail grow by 27% compared to the pre-Covid period.
This initiative draws lessons from experience during fuel shortages in October.
Some 182,000 one-euro tickets were sold in two weekends, including 131,000 the second, a record attendance "
five times higher than usual traffic
".
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“
Nearly 20% of these travelers had never taken the train
” and “
50% would not have traveled
” without it, underlined the regional director of SNCF-Voyages Occitanie, Philippe Bru.
Half went "
to see family or friends
" and 40% did "
tourism
", he added.
"
The climate emergency absolutely needs a new railway revolution
", says Carole Delga after a summer marked by drought, fires and heat waves which reminded us of the seriousness of climate change.
Applied during pollution peaks
From December, the one-euro pricing will be in effect every first weekend of the month.
The price of one euro will also be applied in Occitania during pollution peaks, "
for all TER trains entering or leaving
" the areas affected by these peaks.
While it is recommended to book online, a limited quantity of tickets can however be purchased at stations.
At the end of August, the region had already relaunched, after almost 50 years of absence, the line of the "
right bank of the Rhône
" between Nîmes and Pont-Saint-Esprit, the first reopening of a regional line in France since 2016. Carole Delga was then delighted to “
win a battle against carbon
”.
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Coinciding with free admission in many museums on the 1st Sunday of the month, this new formula should boost the tourism and catering sectors, while preserving the wallet, also explained the elected socialist.
SNCF estimates that these offers, as well as those intended for young people and seniors, will generate new subscriptions and therefore new income.
As the train "
is not present everywhere
", the region has also decided to grant "
carpooling assistance
" and has signed partnerships to this effect with the platforms Mobicoop, Karos, Atchoum, Klaxit and BlaBlaCar Daily, for the benefit of both passengers than drivers.