2023-04-30 17:00:10
Dn the early 2000s, the European Commission observed that the fragmentation of the European rail network was a brake on the development of the continent. Wishing to promote the mobility of goods and people, it was then at the initiative of several “rail packages”, the objectives of which were successively to standardize the trans-European network, to make the movement of goods more fluid by opening up freight to competition, then to prepare for the opening up to competition of international passenger transport. This third normative “package” notably enabled railway undertakings to offer stops on the territory of the country of destination, during an international journey. Through this so-called cabotage practice, the Commission thus preserved the monopolies of railway companies on their domestic market (purely internal journeys were then prohibited to foreign companies), while opening up the sector to European competition.
The year 2023 is supposed to mark the culmination of the process of creating a single European railway area by the definitive opening to competition of national passenger transport markets. If the creation of this rail space seems well advanced on paper, it actually shows many limits and even leads to the observation of a certain reluctance to its implementation on the part of the SNCF and the public authorities.
Even today, France lacks the will to effectively interconnect its regional networks to the European network, even when cross-border links exist.
Dock-to-dock policy
Indeed, we note that French politicians and the SNCF are currently returning to the policy of “quay to quay” allowing the transhipment of passengers from one train to another, and from one network to another, within the same station. However, this policy is essential to the competitiveness of rail passenger transport compared to the air or road sector. By increasing the number of connections and by not promoting dialogue between European rail players in order to preserve the SNCF, the public authorities are therefore inviting travelers to turn away from this ecological mode of transport.
There are indeed high-speed connections (Thalys, Lyria, Eurostar) connecting France to neighboring countries, but the use of these international lines only rarely meets the needs of local populations (such as cross-border workers) or those travelers wishing to travel economically (such as users of the Interrail Pass). Even in terms of high speed, it seems that France is withdrawing from trans-European passenger transport. He comes to mind on this subject the break in commercial relations at the initiative of the SNCF with Trenitalia on the Paris-Turin-Milan line, at the end of 2011, or with Renfe on the Paris-Barcelona-Madrid line, at the end of 2022.
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