Guest of the “Grand Jury RTL-Le Figaro-LCI” this Sunday, the Minister Delegate for Transport Clément Beaune recalled the various financial boosts that have recently been decided to help the French go on vacation, in particular for those who would pay in holiday vouchers at tolls. Above all, he announced “a number of pricing measures” aimed at “all users” and not just young people who would like to take the train this summer. “Everyone has the right to vacation,” said the minister.
“I will announce in the coming days a number of price reduction measures, especially for the summer, on Intercity trains,” he said. Measures “which will target all users” because “we have the right to vacation, even when we are over 25 years old” according to him. There is therefore no question of distinguishing within a family “those who are young and those who are not so young”. “It will be something extremely simple and extremely powerful,” he promised all the same, without saying more. “We have to move towards an attractive pass on all daily trains, the Intercités or the TER”.
“It is a good measure to have a simple and readable offer of cheaper tickets (…) but we cannot do the free train because investment is a priority”, explained Clément Beaune, questioned about of the proposal of the deputy of Nupes François Rufin who pleads among other things for train tickets sold at 10 euros this summer. “The paradox is when you look at the price of daily trains, we are cheaper than in Germany”, defended the minister, recognizing all the same the merits of the “very simple product” – “a card at 49 euros for the equivalent TER and Intercités” – launched across the Rhine.
Asked the day before by Brut about the possibility of creating an unlimited train ticket in France as it exists in Germany, Clément Beaune had also replied “to be working on it”. “Yes, we are working on it,” he said, adding that it was necessary to “bring the regions and the state together” to achieve this. A job that he says will “take a few more months”, knowing that “the Germans took a little over a year to do it”.
In addition, the Minister recalled that the five million French people who benefit from holiday vouchers would be able to use them, if they wish, to pay less for their tolls. Insofar as Vinci Autoroutes, the APRR and Sanef responded to the government’s call and agreed to make summer discounts for motorists, ranging from 20% to 50% for subscribers to the Liber-T electronic toll system. Only constraint: you must first deposit the holiday vouchers on the subscriber account, before the motorway company abounds in turn.
“A much greater aid than last year”, according to the minister, who defended this measure “far from being anecdotal”. “Last year, I asked in July for a 10% discount, but it fell a little late compared to vacation departures. So this year, I asked earlier for a measure at least as important so that it happens from the first weekend of departure on vacation ”.