This summer, SNCF beat its 2022 record with 24 million travelers on the main lines – TGV and Intercités in France – taking advantage of a “desire to stay in France” and ecological concerns, according to the company. ” That’s excellent news. […] The Covid period is well behind us, the French traveled a lot this summer,” said the CEO of SNCF Voyageurs, Christophe Fanichet, on Thursday to the Association of Transport and Mobility Journalists (AJTM). ).
This is a 4% increase in the number of travelers, after an already “exceptional” summer 2022 with a catch-up effect after the health crisis and “a real desire for the train”, he commented. “The French, for a long time, take the train in the summer, and they have largely anticipated their trips” by taking their tickets earlier, he added. One in two long-distance tickets was purchased more than 25 days before departure.
The occupancy rate of the TGVs exceeded 80%, and 40% of them were full – a percentage which may seem low, but which is understandable, since many TGVs also serve less popular destinations for summer visitors .
The order of magnitude was the same last year, but SNCF Voyageurs sold 450,000 additional seats this year. The Atlantic coast and the Mediterranean were particularly popular this summer, while growth was driven by “green destinations”, notably the Alps (6%), Burgundy and Alsace (15%), noted the CEO of the SNCF.
As for the TER, they saw their attendance increase by 10% in July and August, with spectacular performances in Occitanie, Pays-de-la-Loire and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. For the leader, “there is truly a desire to stay in France, a desire for ecology, and the train was the demonstration of this”.
“We have not seen a drop in the number of passengers on our trains with the arrival of competition” from the Italian companies Trenitalia and the Spanish Renfe, noted the CEO of SNCF Voyageurs, for whom “it is leisure that boosts rail traffic.” Business travel is still down 10 to 15% compared to pre-Covid, he regretted.
International high-speed trains (including Eurostar, Thalys and Ouigo in Spain) have at the same time transported 6 million passengers (4%) and night trains 215,000 sleepers on rails (15%).
To cope with the success of its high-speed trains – and to respond to criticism from travelers disappointed at not finding available seats – SNCF Voyageurs must expand its TGV fleet by purchasing new generation trains expected from of 2025, by continuing the mid-life transformation of trains into Ouigo with more seats, and by undertaking a program (called “Botox”) to make the oldest trains run longer.
The idea is also to make the TGVs run more, in particular by optimizing maintenance periods. “Our objective is to be able to make our TGV fleet profitable,” noted the manager. And if the number of trains has generally decreased in recent years, the number of seats offered has increased “by more than 15%” since 2013, the SNCF having purchased double-deck trains.
Asked about the price of TGVs, often considered high, Christophe Fanichet pointed out that one in two leisure tickets was sold this summer for less than 45 euros. One in two travelers has used an Avantage card or taken a low-cost Ouigo TGV, according to him.
If the rules for calculating ticket prices with “yield management” (prices increasing as the train fills up) have not been changed, prices have increased more quickly because the French “prepared their trips earlier “, he explained.
SNCF Voyageurs increased on average the price of TGV tickets – which is not subsidized – by 5% this year, while its costs increased by 13%, recalled Christophe Fanichet. It is still too early to discuss price increases for next year, because the group’s budget has not been finalized, he added.
