SNCF will add 500,000 train seats this summer in the face of “record” demand – Le Monde

TGV Ouigo, June 22, 2021. DENIS CHARLET / AFP “We are off to a record summer”, according to Jean-Pierre Farandou, CEO of SNCF. The rail company “has already sold eight million tickets for July and August, that’s 10% more than in 2019, so we’re seeing a very strong push,” said Mr. Farandou on France 2 on Thursday June 23, specifying that the SNCF was going to “put in place 500,000 additional places in the face of this success”. “We are on the block, we are adding oars, we are making double compositions with two oars at the same time”, he added, welcoming the mobilization of railway workers to ensure the departure on vacation of the French, whom he called to take the train rather than their car out of “citizen concern”. The trains are, according to Mr. Farandou, complete on the days of the big departure but “there are places left” outside these periods. Read also Article reserved for our subscribers The setbacks of SNCF Connect, the new “illegible” application for buying tickets, benefit competitors Strike movements Various strike movements are currently agitating the SNCF, particularly in Ile-de-France with disrupted traffic by work that leads to last-minute changes to the schedules of drivers, denounced by the unions. Wage demands also came on top of the protests. Asked about these movements, Mr. Farandou recognized a “difficult period”, especially in the Paris region for users and drivers, and indicated that discussions with the social partners were “engaged” with “all options” on the table. . “I try to practice a social dialogue of solution and construction and not too much a social dialogue of obstruction (…) which penalizes users and customers”, he said, referring to a social climate “ a little tense, but not just at the SNCF”, in particular because of the difficulties relating to purchasing power. Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers “To play its role in decarbonization, the SNCF must stop complicating access to the train” About the increase in ticket prices for users, who are facing inflation , the CEO declared that it would be “contradictory to want to develop traffic and to have high prices” and that, despite the increase in the price of electricity, the impact on costs for the SNCF would not be “too significant” in 2022 through purchases made in advance. “For 2023, the question will arise”, according to Mr. Farandou. Read also Article reserved for our SNCF subscribers: 2022 promises to be a pivotal year for the accounts of the company Le Monde with AFP