A French State programme to invest 100 billion euros in rail transport up until 2040 could hit the buffers as a consequence of State budgetary constraints. Speaking at a conference earlier this week, France’s recently-appointed minister of Transport, François Durovray, explained that the 100 billion euros programme “remains the government’s roadmap”, but underlined that its implementation is “fragile” given the savings that need to be made in the State budget. 

Announced by the previous government in February 2023, a major element of the multi-billion, multi-annual plan was the expansion and upgrading of the rail network. “We have a pressing need to determine sustainable financing methods that will protect all the country’s infrastructures from government budgetary contingencies”, he said. Durovray went on to call for the State’s commitment to rail freight to be “sustained and even strengthened”.

Last week, before a French Parliamentary commission, Jean-Pierre Farandou, the head of the SNCF Group, urged the French government to increase annual aid to the single wagon segment by 30 million euros, for a total of 200 million euros, a promise made by the former Transport minister. Farandou also commented on the upkeep of the rail network, revealing that in 2024, SNCF is spending 1.7 billion euros on its maintenance. He went on to warn that from 2027, an extra 1.5 billion euros a year will be required for network maintenance.

What about Ulysse Fret?

Meanwhile, it is unclear whether France’s reduction in public spending will impact a major investment programme totalling 4 billion euros to develop rail freight and due to be finalised later this year. Named Ulysse Fret and running until 2032, it is seen as a key element in doubling the sector’s modal share to around 18 per cent over that period.

Of the 4 billion euros package, the French government has pledged 2 billion in state funding, with the remaining 2 billion to be sourced from French regional and local councils and the EU. Prime Minister Michel Barnier presented the annual budget for 2025 to President Emmanuel Macron and the French Cabinet yesterday (10 October). It makes provision for economies of 60 billion euros and an increase in taxes. The budget will now be debated in Parliament.