Question 9235 — rail transport

Summary

Ms. Pascale Martin draws the attention of the Minister Delegate to the Minister for Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion, responsible for transport, to his announcements concerning Fret SNCF following the opening of an investigation by the European Commission on January 18, 2023. This procedure against France is motivated by an alleged non-compliance with the rules on state aid intended to avoid "distortions of competition ". This is the culmination of 15 years of rail freight liberalization organized jointly by the European Union and successive governments. Since 2006, when rail freight was opened to competition following the adoption by the European Commission of the second rail package, the situation in rail freight has continued to deteriorate. While this liberalization had been sold as the cure miracle to revive traffic, it collapsed by 30%. Fret SNCF, for its part, saw the number of railway workers drop from 15,000 to 5,000 and lost market share, only transporting around 50% of bloodless traffic (nearly 2/3 less volume of goods transported for Fret SNCF since 2003). Competition is not the solution, it is the problem. Between 2006 and 2019, many private companies, swearing only by economic profitability, competed with Fret SNCF in profitable segments, leaving only the least profitable sectors to Fret SNCF. However, rail freight has many strategic and ecological advantages. While SNCF Freight should be at the heart of the major public policies necessary for the ecological transition and national industrial development, the Minister decides to complete the dismantling started by his predecessors under the guise of anticipation of a European sanction. Sanction which is itself the direct consequence of the law “For a new railway pact” of 2018 carried by Ms. Elisabeth Borne. Après 15 years of neoliberal management, the European Commission therefore intends to step on the accelerator in the midst of the climate crisis and push for the dismantling of the historic public operator. By his incompetence and his submission to Brussels, the Government signs with the stroke of a pen the dismissal of more than 500 railway workers on their way out, as sole thanks for hard work and numerous sacrifices. The Minister also announces a sale of so-called dedicated trains, including the emblematic early food train, from December 31, 2023, which represents a loss of 30% of the total volume of SNCF Freight activity. Incidentally, the Government is organizing the cut sale of the company by transferring more than 60 locomotives to the private sector, by selling 40% of the real estate assets as well as the Saint-Priest logistics platform to private sector competitors! Instead of satisfying the demands of the European Commission which are incompatible with an ambitious policy to revive public rail freight, the minister should lead the fight against Brussels to impose a public monopoly on the freight sector. railway. What does the minister intend to do? In the name of the general interest of the nation, there is an urgent need to place rail freight under the aegis of a 100% public, unified and integrated company such as SNCF. She wants to know his position on the subject.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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