The rail pass gets stuck in the depot. In the absence of an agreement on its financing with all the regions, this unlimited subscription on TER for young people at 49 euros, promised by Emmanuel Macron, should not see the light of day this summer as planned. “Unless there is a change of direction from the regional presidents today, we cannot be operational this summer,” said Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete on Franceinfo this Wednesday, April 3.
The ambition of the rail pass, originally intended for everyone, had already been scaled back at the start of the year, after the reshuffle, when it was decided to restrict it to young people. A decision which satisfied the regional presidents. But in recent weeks, discussions have stalled around the financing of this subscription.
“We accepted that the State would cover 80% of the cost”, estimated at 15 million euros, as the regions requested, assured Patrice Vergriete. There therefore remained “a little more than 3 million to be shared between regions”, or “not much”, estimates the minister. But Hervé Morin (Normandy), Laurent Wauquiez (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) and Xavier Bertrand (Hauts-de-France) did not give their agreement, he regretted. “We cannot create a France in leopard skin”, where the rail pass would be valid in certain regions and not others. Especially since some TERs are managed by several regions at the same time.
The technical implementation of this rail pass requires a delay which now makes a deployment for the summer of 2024 untenable, unless recalcitrant elected officials backpedal this Wednesday. But Patrice Vergriete does not rule out putting the project back on track. “We don’t want to give up,” he insisted, assuring that “the promise of the President of the Republic still stands.” “I say it to the regional presidents: let’s work for 2025.”
