This is a great contradiction that runs through the railway sector.
Transport more ecological than the plane, the train is often more expensive in France, especially on international routes.
The example of Paris-Barcelona has even become a symbol of this.
Let's take a direct round trip scheduled between April 19 and 23: count 275 euros for the train (without a discount card), against 130 euros for the plane, for the lowest fares.
A paradox highlighted by journalist Hugo Clément in the latest issue of his program
Sur le front,
broadcast on February 13 on France 5.
Bad news: while SNCF increased the price of its train tickets by an average of 5% in January, the increase could be even steeper in the years to come.
In question ?
The increase in rail tolls, collected by the rail infrastructure manager in France, SNCF Réseau.
The Transport Regulatory Authority (ART) gave him the green light to increase these tolls significantly, in order to cope with inflation.
For high-speed lines (LGV), the increase for carriers will amount to +7.6% in 2024, then +2.9% in 2025 and +1.9% in 2026. For “agreed services” (Intercités and TER), the increase displayed will reach +8% next year, then +6.4% in 2025 and +5% in 2026.
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35% to 40% of the price of a train ticket
As a reminder, this fee, which must be paid by rail operators (SNCF, Trenitalia and soon Railcoop), is equivalent to between 35 and 40% of the price of tickets for TGVs and 15% of those for a TER.
It is one of the highest in Europe.
At present, it amounts to 9 € per kilometer on average for TGVs, reports the program
Sur le front
, while it reaches more than 8 € on a conventional track, revealed to us FlixTrain (compared to 2, €77 in Italy and €1.45 in Sweden).
This competitor company of the SNCF, which planned to operate axes formerly served by Corail trains, threw in the towel in the face of the rates charged.
Contacted by
Le
Figaro
, SNCF Réseau, which levies this rail toll, defends itself against high prices:
“Compared to reference indicators such as tonne-kilometre or passenger-kilometre, the prices of French tolls are within the European average. »
And to quote the ART figures:
"They thus amount to €0.0064 per tonne-kilometre for freight trains, €0.045 per passenger-kilometre for regional trains and €0.033 per passenger-kilometre for great speed."
"The French model is unique in Europe: 100% of the maintenance and renovation of our structuring network is based on tolls
", reveals SNCF Réseau.
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As the manager explains to us, the tolls on the TGVs are
“fixed by major traffic axes, according to market potential and intermodal competition (road and air)”
.
In addition, other criteria are also taken into account, such as
"the profitability of the traffic (...) on a route considered, the variable costs generated on the infrastructure by these traffic, and the sustainability of the various rail activities ( considered limited for freight activity, for example).
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Tolls, “an essential resource” for SNCF Réseau
One question remains: are these prices justified?
In France, rail tolls are an essential resource for SNCF Réseau.
"The French model is unique in Europe: 100% of the maintenance and renovation of our structuring network is based on tolls, while other European countries have chosen to subsidize the infrastructure manager to maintain low tolls
”, explains the manager.
Is the fault therefore with a lack of financial involvement of the State?
“The tolls make it possible to compensate for all the investments made”,
explains Alexandre Charpentier, rail expert at the consulting firm Roland Berger.
And to take the example of railway signalling.
“On the Paris-Lyon line, one of the busiest in France, SNCF Réseau has done a lot of work to achieve the most advanced standards in the field.
This, in order to increase the rate for the SNCF, but also for competitors like Trenitalia”
, continues the expert.
The comparison with other countries is all the more tricky as France has a rail mix largely oriented towards high speed, which is very investment intensive.
“LGVs require regular maintenance.
The tolls make it possible to pay for this permanent upgrade”
, indicates Alexandre Charpentier.
If FlixTrain gave up setting up because of this fee, this is not the case for Trenitalia.
The Italian company, which has operated the Paris-Milan section via Lyon since December 2021, has negotiated lower prices with SNCF Réseau for its first years of operation.
The reduction is 37% for the first year and 16% for the second.
2024, the year of an optional 8% rebate, is currently under discussion.
“This reduction, entirely in line with European law, is intended to 'reduce market inequalities'.
This amounts to saying that a new entrant needs to make investments, such as marketing, to arrive at fair competitive conditions with an existing player.
, explains Alexandre Charpentier.
A rebate which could also benefit the Spanish company Renfe, which, after its divorce from the SNCF, plans to run its trains on both sides of the Pyrenees during the year.