Transports
Passengers and TGV at half mast: SNCF again in financial turmoil
For lack of passengers, confined, the SNCF must reduce the supply of its TGVs by 70%, at the risk of further straining its accounts and having again need of state aid.
Second confinement requires, the SNCF must again adjust its transport plan downwards. The measures are certainly less brutal than in March, when the railway company reduced its train supply to 15% and then to 7%, but the outlook is not very encouraging.
Since the return of the All Saints holidays and the new travel restrictions, the occupancy rate of its TGVs has fallen to 15% on average after having hovered around 50% since the start of the September school year. And, “the decline is likely to continue in the coming weeks”, fears a spokesperson for the SNCF Travel management. A further turn of the screw could be given if demand decreases further.
70% less TGV
In order to avoid running empty (TGVs are only profitable above 60% load factor), SNCF has already reduced its offer by 70% since November 5. Favoring morning and evening trains. For example, there are only five TGVs per day between Lyon and Paris against twenty usually. As for the international TGVs, the Thalys (to Belgium and the Netherlands) they also go to 30% of the usual offer and to 15% for the Eurostar, affected since the spring.
The decline is also
