The SNCF overwhelmed by the growth of its traffic. This Friday morning, Christophe Fanichet, the boss of SNCF Voyageurs, took stock of the year 2023, which ended with a record attendance. In total, 122 million travelers took the TGV last year, including 25 million on Ouigo, its low-cost TGV offer. This is 6% more traffic than last year. But growth, which should continue in 2024, is “limited by saturation effects”, indicate its leaders.
Customers who take the train for their leisure are now joined by “professionals”. “We found those who left in 2019 earlier than expected,” observes Christophe Fanichet. As a result of this influx, one in three TGVs was full this year. “The appetite for high speed continues unabated, to the point that the arrival of competitors on the high-speed network, Trenitalia in particular, has not affected our growth,” says SNCF Voyageurs.
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But how can we absorb growth? The arrival of the new TGV-M, ordered from Alstom, is not for tomorrow, which “annoys” the boss of SNCF Voyageurs. The first deliveries should take place in the summer of 2025. In the meantime, to accommodate more customers without new trains, SNCF is renovating and reconditioning its current trains. Ouigo currently has 38 trains, it will be 44 in 2026 and 50 in 2027. “We have around a hundred trains to extend for a few years or even up to ten years,” explains Christophe Fanichet. This summer, we will be able to add 500,000 places but certainly not a million.” Enough to increase the fleet to 364 oars. The SNCF will also run its trains more and shift the operation of the classic TGV Inoui to the more intensive operation of the Ouigo. While the latter drive an average of 700,000 km per year, an Inoui is generally satisfied with 400,000 to 450,000 km.
Next summer also promises to be tense, with the influx of visitors during the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the transport of athletes by train. “In Île-de-France, we are going to add 4,500 additional trains which will serve 20 sites on ten different lines,” specifies the manager. Nothing impossible. “This is the traffic we experience every day but not during the summer season. They will not be the same passengers, not the same trains, explains Christophe Fanichet. At the Stade de France, we support around thirty events per year. There it will be two or three per day. If negotiations with union organizations continue to compensate for the mobilization of employees during the Olympics, the SNCF points out that it still has 10,000 volunteers to find.