Tackling the SNCF and opening rail lines in France, whether conventional or high-speed, is a long and difficult journey, fraught with pitfalls. Railcoop has just paid the price, with the directors of this original project announcing on 27 March that they were winding up their SCIC (société coopérative d'intérêt collectif).
They decided to anticipate the decision that would have been handed down by the Cahors Commercial Court on 15 April. The final blow came ten days ago when Railcoop lost a dispute with ACC-M, a company claiming 800,000 euros in costs for guarding its first two trains.
A utopian idea?
Launched in 2019 Railcoop was a first in the French rail industry, but it had already won over a number of French companies. 15,500 members who had not hesitated to put their hands in the wallet to relaunch the line Bordeaux-Lyon which serves Périgueux, Limoges, Montluçon and Roanne. It's a long route - 6h30 - and structurally loss-making, which led the SNCF to cut costs years ago. Eager to supporting the economic development of areas that have been somewhat neglectedseveral local authorities had even become members. But this was not enough to unlock the financial support of the banks or theAnd yet, the State is not afraid to talk about revitalising the railways and its cross-border lines.. Recent discussions with Spanish and French funds came too late for the cooperative, which has been in receivership since October 2023.
A constant lack of capital
Railcoop seems to have been too optimistic in its development plan, which called for it to open in 2022 with 6 trains a dayunderestimating the many obstacles to be overcome. First and foremost was the financial cost of the project, which, according to the experts, would have required a capital of €50m while members raised "only" €8.5m. Because we need finding and renovating used trainsetsRailcoop had to either obtain the necessary authorisation from the French authorities, which is currently a challenge in France, or place an order with specialist manufacturers, which would have delayed the launch by 3 to 5 years. Although Railcoop obtained its authorisation from the authorities, it then had to battle with SNCF Réseaux to obtain the precious furrows necessary for its trains to run. Faced with these start-up delays, Railcoop finally had the bad idea, between the end of 2021 and April 2023, of launching a freight transport activity, particularly for timber, between Capdenac in Aveyron and Toulouse. A diversification that ultimately proved unprofitable in the face of fierce competition from road haulage. All of which leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of its managers and the thousands of members who believed in this project at a time when the railways are opening up to competition.
