😡 The way Le Monde covers this cancellation of the Paris-Wien/Berlin night trains is so poor lemonde.fr/economie/article/20…
If was losing money, they allege, and the French state will stop the subsidy, so the line will stop
Hang on
ÖBB manages to run lines in Germany without subsidy there. Manages to use its own locomotives everywhere except France. Could SNCF have found ways to reduce costs?
It's all framed as if SNCF bears NO responsibility here, and that's not at all the case
Les trains de nuit Paris-Berlin et Paris-Vienne menacés faute de subvention de l’Etat
Avec la décision du gouvernement de mettre fin aux aides financières, ces deux lignes déficitaires devraient s’arrêter d’ici à la fin de l’année.Jonathan Parienté (Le Monde)
Jon Worth
in reply to Jon Worth • • •And *there are other ways*!
This night train uses the old line Strasbourg - Nancy - Paris. That's quite empty since the LGV Est high speed line was opened. The state could radically reduce track access charges at off peak hours to tempt more trains onto those lines for example.
Jon Worth
in reply to Jon Worth • • •And really the exceptionalism with which this is covered. As if these issues in France are somehow unique and extra special.
No France, the only uniquely French thing here is your national railway company is pretty much alone in that it gives the strong impression it does not like running trains.
Were this DB, SNCB, NS, Trenitalia, ÄŒD, PKP, even DSB they'd have found some solution.
SNCF? Nah, why would anyone be so silly to take a night train anyway?
reshared this
webhat reshared this.
Jon Worth
in reply to Jon Worth • • •And I know this is a radical idea for the French state, but we the people might actually better know what we want than the French state does
We might like a slow but comfortable train service, even if - SHOCK! - the carriages were not built in France by Alstom and even if a SNCF senior management person would never be seen dead in a night train, considering it below them
Jon Worth
in reply to Jon Worth • • •And in a healthy state, there should be a healthy tension between the state owned railway company, and Ministries of Finance and Transport
The state owned railway company should aim to run *as many trains as it can*, *within the financial framework set for it*
And the Ministries set the limits
What annoys me in France is SNCF - by itself wanting to cut services - is complicit with the Ministry's tendency to want to cut, so it's a self fulfilling prophecy
Nemo_bis 🌈
in reply to Jon Worth • • •ir.deutschebahn.com/en/db-grou…
Jon Worth
in reply to Nemo_bis 🌈 • • •