To understand the importance of this meeting, you had to look up at the ceiling of the Rennes technicentre. Unaccustomed to welcoming big parties, this SNCF repair workshop displayed a huge disco ball this morning, the point of which we didn’t really understand to be honest. Whatever. This Thursday, it was in this impressive train train maintenance hangar that the new TER Bretagne agreement was signed, a few hours before the region and the SNCF kissed again for an agreement this time concerning TGVs. In the midst of the big speeches consisting of saying how well everyone worked and was wonderful, we understood above all that these two texts aimed above all to protect ourselves from a possible opening to competition. And that by getting married there, immediately, the two councilors should be protected from possible infidelity.
For several days, the French regions must absolutely organize a competitive bidding procedure if they award a new operating contract. An opening of the rail market desired by the French State which should not concern Brittany for the moment. By signing two agreements for ten years, the region has clearly given its preference to the SNCF. “It’s not to give them a gift. But why change when everything works so well? We have the best train in France,” assures Loïg Chesnais-Girard. To grant himself this title, the president of the region relies on two figures: 96% regularity in TER and a customer satisfaction rate of 96%. Let’s be clear, in France, no one does better.
The number of travelers has exploded in four years
Strengthened by its figures, Brittany is the region which displays the strongest increase in the number of travelers with +40% since 2019. A success which is not without posing problems during rush hours or when more people have to board. in addition to bikes or scooters on already crowded trains. “Yes, we have trains that are saturated. But we are putting resources into place to increase our capacity,” promises regional mobility representative Mickaël Quernez. By ordering six new trains and putting two trains on the same track in Rennes, the region promises “20% additional train kilometers by 2030” and even “a doubling by 2040” of regional TER connections.
To pamper its 23,000 subscribers, the Breizhgo network has even decided to offer them the opportunity to board a TGV if they make the same journey. A single ticket offered to young people will also be tested starting next year. “Our sole objective is that Bretons can take the train and not their car. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a TER or a TGV,” explains Christophe Fanichet, national boss of SNCF Voyageurs.
No more TGVs outside peak hours
His company has therefore agreed to increase the rate on certain connections, notably between Brest and Paris (10 additional trains per week), between Quimper and Paris (9 additional trains and between Saint-Malo and Paris (3 more round trips). journeys which, the CEO recognizes, will not be profitable, but which will benefit from a subsidy from the region. The Breton community should spend more than two billion euros over ten years to try to improve its rail offer.