SNCF Freight to Disappear Despite Union Anger

AFP

End clap for Fret SNCF, the leader in rail freight transport in France, which will be replaced by two new companies in 2025 with 10% fewer staff, to the great displeasure of the unions who are preparing their response. 

This is the culmination of nearly two years of crisis within the public company, which has been the subject of proceedings by the European Commission since the beginning of 2023. From next year, Hexafret will handle freight transport and Technis will handle locomotive maintenance. 

The French state is suspected of having paid aid considered illegal between 2005 and 2019 to Fret SNCF to cover its deficit, for around 5 billion euros. 

However, rail freight has been open to competition since 2006 in France and the aid must benefit the entire sector, according to European regulations. 

The state only had two options according to the actors in the case: go to litigation and take the risk of losing, which would have forced Fret SNCF to reimburse 5 billion euros and led to its disappearance with a social plan targeting 5,000 people, according to its managers. 

Or negotiate a “discontinuity plan” with the European authorities to avoid prosecution. This is the path that was initially chosen by the Minister Delegate for Transport, Clément Beaune, and confirmed last Monday by his successor, François Durovray. 

– Abandonment of flow – 

“SNCF fought alongside the State to obtain the most moderate discontinuity possible,” Frédéric Delorme, the president of Rail Logistics Europe, the holding company that brings together SNCF's freight activities (Captrain, combined transport, etc.), told AFP. 

According to him and other SNCF executives, the initial assumption on the European side was “a punishment” with the abandonment of 50% of turnover, 50% of traffic and the elimination of 50% of the workforce, on the model of what happened to the Italian airline Alitalia. 

In the end, Fret SNCF had to abandon 23 of the most profitable freight flows to competitors – Belgian, German and French operators – representing 20% ​​of its turnover and 30% of its traffic. This operation was carried out in the first half of 2024. 

The second stage, with the disappearance of Fret SNCF in favor of Hexafret and Technis, should result in the loss of 500 jobs, or 10% of the workforce. 

A third stage will take place in late 2025-early 2026, with the opening of Rail Logistics Europe's capital to the private sector. “But with a red line, that the SNCF group remains in the majority”, according to Frédéric Delorme. 

There will be no layoffs, the SNCF and the government have promised: all the railway workers concerned will be transferred to other companies in the group. 

– “Social carnage” – 

Of the 4,500 employees kept on, 10% will go to Technis and the rest to Hexafret. “It's very hard for railway workers,” acknowledged Frédéric Delorme. 

Especially since Fret SNCF had finally returned to the black after years of deficit when the procedure was opened. 

For the unions, who are calling for a moratorium and the resumption of negotiations with the European Commission, this decision is not only “social carnage”, but also an ecological aberration “while the climate emergency requires the development of railways as a solution that benefits everyone”. 

The share of goods transported by train is already low in France (11% in 2023) compared to the European average (17%). But rail freight has also recorded a more marked decline in France in 2023 (-17% of goods transported) compared to its European neighbors. 

However, Frédéric Delorme wants to believe that the company can start again on a healthy basis despite its weakening. “These companies (Hexafret and Technis) will benefit from favorable factors to develop,” he assures. 

The French government has notably decided to increase aid for isolated wagons (a train transporting loads for several customers) by 30 million euros in the 2025 budget. In total, aid to the sector will amount to 370 million euros. 

 

You liked the article ? It mobilized our editorial staff, which lives only on your donations.
Information has a cost, all the more that competition from subsidized editorial staff requires greater rigor and professionalism.

With your support, France-Soir will continue to offer its articles for free  because we believe that everyone should have access to free and independent information to form their own opinion.

You are the sine qua non condition for our existence, support us so that France-Soir remains the French media that allows the most legitimate voices to be expressed.