PSG: Future Travel by Train?

Transport Minister Clément Beaune responded yesterday to our colleagues at Canal + regarding the future travels of the Parisian football club.

Clément Beaune, Minister of Transport, asked yesterday for SNCF to adapt its transportation solutions to accommodate PSG on its trains. This took place during an interview with our colleagues at Canal +.

However, the question of train travel deserves to be asked. Today, PSG players travel by bus or plane to play their matches. The Minister of Transport urges SNCF to find a solution by speaking with the club to adapt its schedules to the club.

If an agreement is reached between PSG and SNCF, it would allow the team to be moved while reducing CO₂ emissions. This would replace planes and buses, at least for domestic travel. Clever!

However, according to an article published last September in Le Parisien, there are logistical and security difficulties in moving so many PSG players. Despite SNCF’s promotional campaign to attract the club, questions of security still exist.

What are the challenges of PSG’s train travel?

Anyone who has visited SNCF stations in Paris has likely gotten lost at least once in its corridors and platforms. According to a study by the Île-de-France Mobility Observatory from 2015, over a million travelers use trains each day across ten major Île-de-France stations.

Some use trains for commuting, business trips, or leisure travel. Therefore, it is difficult to close a station at a specific time of day to move PSG players… Especially since the delays caused impact the entire day and shift the schedules of all other travelers.

This would also be very costly for the Parisian club. Despite its wealth, it would need to recruit security agents along the 22 tracks and 13 platforms at Gare de Lyon, for example. This would be in addition to a security perimeter around the station to prevent any risks or dangers. A real logistical headache!

More developments to follow, in order to reduce unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere and promote a more decarbonized mobility.

Also read: SNCF, soon Maglev trains at 550 km/h in France?