“Unsatisfactory performance.” In a report published Wednesday, the Court of Auditors criticizes the management of the Ile-de-France RERs by the RATP and the SNCF, pleading in particular to review the terms of the contracts between the two operators and to continue or even accelerate investment efforts. The Sages report is full of figures on the state of the urban train network winding through Île-de-France. Which lines are the most punctual? Where does the Ile-de-France RER stand compared to its European cousins? What about attendance? Le Figaro answers all these questions, in graphics.
The Court of Auditors is particularly strict on the punctuality of the RER. The Sages judge it “always insufficient, except on line A”. It is in fact the line that is doing the best, with a 94.4% punctuality rate in 2022. “Lines B and D, which combine high traffic, mediocre punctuality rates and a predictable increase in attendance, are the most worrying,” notes the report. In terms of punctuality, they are the two worst performers, with on-time train rates of 85.7% and 86.6% respectively. In addition, adds the Court of Auditors, the overall punctuality by line hides strong disparities depending on the branches. The punctuality of “portions of lines or axes, often significantly lower than the punctuality of entire lines, better reflects the delays experienced,” underlines the report.
Compared to other similar rail networks in Europe, the Ile-de-France RER is at the back of the pack. The Court of Auditors in fact reports that, according to the Transport Quality of Service Authority (AQST), “the overall punctuality of the RER lines is within the low average of suburban trains in other European capitals (notably behind Berlin and Madrid, but ahead of London). The Sages nevertheless specify that the Ile-de-France RERs “present specific features which do not make them directly comparable to other European suburban trains”.
If we return to the French rail network, the punctuality of the RER remains relatively good compared to that of other types of trains which circulate in France. According to the Transport Regulatory Authority (ART), it is on average similar to that of TER, but better than that of Intercités and TGV. “On the other hand, the punctuality of many RER routes is significantly lower,” notes the Court of Auditors.
The Court of Auditors also points out that all RER lines “present significant challenges in terms of attendance”, constantly increasing until the Covid crisis. It thus increased by 4.8% between 2014 and 2019 for the RATP part and by 12.5% for the SNCF part. Over a longer period (2000-2019), annual attendance has even increased by 35% across the entire RER and Transilien network. The prize for the busiest line goes to the RER A (1.4 million daily passengers), ahead of the RER B (nearly 1 million).
The two lines are even at the top of the ranking of the busiest train lines in Europe. “On a global scale, only two networks experience higher traffic,” observes the Court of Auditors. These are the Yamanote line in Tokyo (Japan) and those of the peri-urban network in Mumbai, India. The peri-urban network of São Paulo, in Brazil, displays a traffic density comparable to that of the RERs in the Ile-de-France region.
