Question 12525 — rail transport

Summary

Mr. Christophe Proença draws the attention of the Minister of Transport to the particularly degraded situation of night trains and, more broadly, to the operation of the so-called territorial balance rail lines, in particular those serving the Massif Central and the south-west of France. Several recent events illustrate a profound deterioration of the public rail service. Thus, a night train linking Aurillac to Paris is remained immobilized with its passengers on board for almost nineteen hours. Such downtime, which would have been unimaginable just a few decades ago, seriously questions the organization, anticipation and operational capacity of the national rail system. This situation is all the more incomprehensible given that the State is devoting several billion euros to renovating the rail network. At the same time, Markets have been entrusted to foreign companies, while industrial and technical know-how remains in France, although weakened. The result observed by users, however, is that of a degraded service, massive cancellations and a feeling of abandonment in many areas. The population is overwhelmed. The Aurillac-Brive line is an emblematic illustration of this. Designed to circulate daily according to the programming documents, it actually experiences numerous deletions. Between November 25, 2025 and January 2, 2026, 29 train cancellations out of 36 planned movements were recorded. This situation undermines the continuity of public service and equal access to rail transport. The elimination of essential rail connections also constrains certain users, particularly since Figeac, to take buses in the middle of the night to reach Brive and try to access the night train, in conditions unworthy of a modern public service. Added to these difficulties is a persistent opacity of pricing, in particular on the SNCF Connect application, denounced by local user committees, which weakens the readability of the offer and equal access to the public rail service. The choices made in terms of maintenance also question. Repair operations are no longer carried out in the Brive workshops, which are now largely deserted, but transferred to Chalindrey, in the Grand Est. This choice appears difficult to justify while railway and industrial activities persist locally, particularly in Brive and Biars-sur-Cère. Finally, worrying pricing dysfunctions were reported by the Committee of defense of the Aurillac-Bretenoux/Biars-Brive line. For the same TER journey, on the same train, at the same time, prices can vary from 13.10 euros to 17 euros, solely depending on how the destination is entered on the SNCF Connect application, including for a user holding a youth advantage card. This pricing opacity poses a problem of transparency, equal access to public service and readability for users. The MP wishes to emphasize the fact that it is unthinkable to continue to weaken the public rail service while asking citizens to favor the train in national discourse. The inhabitants of Lot no longer accept promises without follow-up. They demand actions, reliable trains and services that meet their needs. In this context, he wishes to question him on several points. He him asks what concrete measures the State intends to take to guarantee the continuity and reliability of night trains, particularly on the lines serving the Massif Central; how the Government explains the very high level of traffic cancellations on certain lines that are scheduled as daily; if a reassessment of the maintenance and location choices of railway workshops is considered in order to preserve the existing skills in the territories concerned and what measures will be taken to guarantee transparent, fair and understandable pricing of journeys, regardless of how destinations are entered. Finally, he asks if the Government has carried out a complete evaluation of the mobility orientation law (LOM), particularly with regard to its objectives of modernizing networks and desaturation of nodes. railways and an increase in the share of rail, before the announcement of a new draft framework law on rail and road investments. He asks him to kindly indicate the follow-up that the Government intends to give to these major concerns for regional planning, ecological transition and citizens' confidence in the public rail service.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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