Posted on 03/02/2004 11:37:39 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
The French railway system, long the envy of British travellers, is badly maintained, deeply in the red and a hostage to self-interested trade unions, says a book to be published tomorrow in Paris.
SNCF: La Machine Infernale, written by three investigative journalists paints a sorry picture of what many tourists consider the most obvious triumph of the French public sector.
French railways, the authors argue, survive only because of £7 billion annual taxpayer subsidies and politicians terrified of confronting a deeply rotten system.
Their main thesis is that France's railways are now moving at two speeds. First there is the TGV network, which carried its billionth passenger last year. These high-speed trains are the only profitable arm of SNCF. Politicians jostle to have new lines laid to their towns and regions. In December, with the forthcoming regional elections in mind, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the prime minister, promised six new TGV lines.
But behind the glittering facade of the TGV is the rest of the train network, notably the Transilien, which serves the Ile de France, carrying commuters in and out of Paris.
About 2.2 million passengers use this service daily, two thirds of all those who use the railways. Unlike the lavishly funded TGV network, the Transilien suffers from ageing tracks, faulty signalling and vandalism.
Official SNCF figures state that 90.5 per cent of Transilien trains operate within five minutes of their schedule. A consumer magazine, Que Choisir, said recently that only 56 per cent were on time. The capital's main newspaper, Le Parisien, frequently rants about the suburban service, its tardiness and assaults on passengers.
Eurostar, the authors claim, is now similarly recognised by SNCF as a disaster. One of the company's executives is quoted as saying : "Eurostar was a huge mistake.
"But closing it would wipe out the shareholders of Eurotunnel, would be absurd in terms of jobs and chucking out 27 tracks built at a cost of £34 million each."
The last time a government tried to reform trains was in 1995. In response, the unionised workers' imprisoned SNCF bureaucrats in their offices for days without even access to lavatories. When the government caved in, the hostage-takers were not disciplined for fear of another strike. The authors estimate the government's contribution to SNCF, via subsidies and pension contributions for its 180,000 employees, at roughly £125 per citizen.
Philippe Essig, head of SNCF during the 1980s, is quoted as saying: "The politicians have never told the French, 'The TGV is a very nice toy, but it's expensive'.
"So the French think that it's their right, like baguettes and the minimum wage." One of the reasons given by the authors for the failure of the French press to report on SNCF's troubles is that each year the company gives more than 300 discount cards for journalists and their families to use on private trips. Civil servants were also reluctant to find fault with SNCF as 50,000 of them travelled on reduced fares.
In 1997, the government tried to help SNCF by hiving off its £16.7 billion accumulated debt into a separate state company, the Reseau Ferre de France, which would look after rail infrastructure.
But burdened with interest payments, the RFF can afford to maintain only half of all France's railways, letting the rest go to ruin.
The 35-hour week has also caused havoc. An SNCF executive said: "Many trains leave late simply because there is no one to drive them."
There is also the problem of many workers taking holidays in the summer when the trains are at their busiest.
"So the French think that it's their right, like baguettes and the minimum wage." One of the reasons given by the authors for the failure of the French press to report on SNCF's troubles is that each year the company gives more than 300 discount cards for journalists and their families to use on private trips. Civil servants were also reluctant to find fault with SNCF as 50,000 of them travelled on reduced fares. ***
Bump!
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