Train: a 100 billion euro plan until 2040

Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne unveils a new 100 billion euro plan to boost renovation and new train lines.

This was a demand from SNCF CEO, dating back to July 2022. Jean-Pierre Farandou believed that an investment of 100 billion euros over 15 years was necessary for trains in France. Because according to him, “at the current pace, it would take 45 years to modernize the network.” 

These remarks have surely resonated with ministers and the Prime Minister, who is presenting a new action plan this morning. Elisabeth Borne thus confirms the figure from the head of the railway company, but by 2040 or 2042, that is 17 to 19 years later. This “future transport plan” is announced during the delivery of the Infrastructure Steering Committee (COI) report. Some are already raising objections, such as the MEP Karima Delli, in light of the 86 billion euros Germany is investing… over 10 years until 2030.

Who will pay the 100 billion euros?

Coincidence or not, news comes just a few hours after SNCF reported positive results, posting a profit of 2.4 billion euros in 2022. Because it must be understood that it’s not the State that will put 100 billion euros on the table. This sum is to be shared between companies and local communities (regions, metropolitan areas, etc.).

SNCF specifically clarified that “this money will be fully used to build the Group’s future by funding its development, investing in the national rail network, and reducing debt.” According to Les Échos, the company is expected to spend 4.3 billion euros annually to renovate and modernize the network, that is 1.5 billion more. As for the State, its share remains unknown but will take part of the 25 billion euros allocated for transport infrastructure during this five-year period 2023-2027.

What are the priorities for trains? The RER and infrastructure?

Thus, the focus is on renovating the rail network, vital for ensuring regular train services in France. “We need to put an end to the aging of the network,” declares Élisabeth Borne. But there is also talk of expanding the modal share of train travel, including new lines. Among them, the President of the Republic wished, at the end of November, “a network of 10 metropolitan RER lines” in France, in the 10 largest urban areas. “Train usage will evolve, with faster, more regular trains serving living centers,” adds the Prime Minister, “to reduce car usage.”

After Paris and its RER, and more recently the Strasbourg REME launched in December, cities like Lyon, Bordeaux, and Lille are studying their networks for the coming years. Jean-Pierre Farandou had already estimated that these RER lines would require 13 billion euros, that is over a billion per metropolitan area.

What about night trains and small lines?

For now, many unknowns remain. The government has repeatedly been asked about preserving or revitalizing small lines. Regarding this, SNCF had already proposed several ideas, with new Light Freight Trains – innovative light trains – to be deployed over “9000 km of less electrified tracks”, which would be “a major challenge for regions eager to strengthen decarbonized mobility in peri-urban areas while controlling costs of transportation.” For the Prime Minister, the new RER lines are “inseparable from the renewal of small lines for territorial cohesion.”

Finally, other activists and elected officials immediately mentioned night trains, a slow but more affordable solution, offering time savings. This network, dense in Central and Eastern Europe, has almost completely disappeared in France, with only two lines in 2017. Two lines, Paris-Nice and Paris-Tarbes, reopened in 2021, and the former Prime Minister Jean Castex hoped that “around 10 night train lines could emerge by 2030.” Good news, Elisabeth Borne confirms the “revival of night trains.”

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