The Railcoop railway cooperative announced on Friday that it was aiming for a daily rotation of passenger trains between Lyon and Bordeaux from the summer of 2024, but said it was encountering the refusal of regional institutions to grant it guarantees to balance its budget.
Railcoop, which has just interrupted its loss-making freight train activity to focus on its future offer to travelers on a cross-section abandoned by the SNCF in 2014, has so far brought together “just over a quarter” of the 4 million euros targeted for the current financial year. They would be necessary for the launch of the service next year, indicated its general manager, Nicolas Debaisieux.
While the cooperative must “raise debt”, the banks “asked us to have regions that stand as guarantors”, detailed Mr. Debaisieux during a press videoconference. However, only the Occitanie region has committed in writing, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes communicating “a refusal”, while discussions are continuing with the Grand-Est and Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
A response from the SNCF in September
“Public support is very uncertain to help us develop,” conceded the general manager. As a result, “we are moving towards private financing”, in addition to raising funds from new members, he said.
Based in Figeac (Lot), the cooperative has been trying for months to raise the necessary funds – some 3 million euros – to put back into service used railcars bought from the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
In terms of the project, Railcoop expects a response from SNCF Réseau in September to its request for slots to operate the link. If the cooperative had communicated so far on a one-way trip one day followed by a return the next day, it now intends to make one round trip per day with the same train, synonymous with a departure before 6:00 a.m. and a return late evening, for a journey that will take 7.5 hours each way.
According to its management, Railcoop now has some 14,000 members, including 200 legal persons. Nearly 80% of the capital is held by individuals, and 12 to 15% by local authorities.