Railway companies belonging to the French Rail Association (Afra) are once again challenging the SNCF in terms of distribution, demanding that SNCF Connect, the website of SNCF Voyageurs, sell the offerings of its members, including Trenitalia, La Renfe, and Transdev, as well as future entrants like Velvet. To achieve this, they are campaigning for the tabling of an amendment in the framework law on the development and financing of transport, which will be studied by the Senate in April.
" SNCF Connect is obliged to sell tickets from all operators that request it, in a fair and non-discriminatory manner. Consider the president of the association, Marco Caposciutti, who is also the president of Trenitalia France. And consider "thatImproving and simplifying the sale of transport tickets is a key challenge for the development of rail transport in France and for increasing its modal share. […] Distribution must be reliable, clear, and transparent so that travellers can compare the entire rail offering on a neutral and objective basis.
Afra points out that the market share of SNCF Connect on the sale of train tickets stands at 85%, and 93%on the marketing of long-distance tickets, mainly high-speed trains. To fill their trains, alternative companies have no choice but to promote their website, open a ticket office, and install self-service machines at the stations served. Customers can also use the few platforms that aggregate all operators, such as Trainline, Omio, or Kombo, which are keen to communicate about this global access to the French or even European rail offer.
SNCF Connect to better fill competing trains
While the SNCF regularly complains that it cannot meet all its customers' demand due to a lack of TGV train sets, the Afra considers " unacceptable » that trains operated by alternative companies depart with empty seats because they do not benefit from the same visibility due to their absence from SNCF Connect. This carries the risk that passengers left on the platform will turn to cars or planes, which are significantly less ecological transport solutions. For travellers, the advantage of opening distribution to non-SNCF subsidiary companies lies in a better comparison of timetables and fares on routes where competition is already established. Especially as new operators most often offer lower prices than the national company.
" Opening up distribution would also be beneficial for the purchasing power of the French. SNCF Connect, which benefits from an advantage of recognition and use stemming from its historical monopoly, cannot keep travellers captive to the dominant operator's offering to fill its trains and thus impose prohibitive fares on travellers. "Solène Garcin-Berson, the general delegate of AFRA, stated. Regarding this near-monopoly, it should be noted that SNCF Connect has already been criticised for selling tickets for the same cross-border trains at a significantly higher price compared to the sales sites of SNCB in Belgium and Deutsche Bahn in Germany."
The association also highlights the financial benefit for SNCF Connect of hosting new operators, as the site would then earn revenue through a fee or a percentage of the sales price applied to each booking. A system open to all present rail players is therefore what Deutsche Bahn has adopted in Germany, where it competes with a multitude of operators, including Transdev, in the Länder. When regularly questioned on this subject, SNCF Voyageurs fully admits to not distributing its competitors' offers, not having any regulatory obligation in this matter. Even the new Paris-Berlin service from European Sleeper is not sold there, despite SNCF having ceased its night service to the German capital last December.
A way to facilitate end-to-end journeys
To support its request, Afra also highlights that this comparison and combination of offers will facilitate end-to-end journeys by combining long-haul and regional services. The passenger should not have to change platforms to buy different train tickets. Every effort must be made to facilitate the process and the sale of combined and connecting tickets, including with trains from alternative operators. ", points out the association. Transdev has thus taken over the operation of the Marseille-Nice TER line (although commercialisation remains possible via SNCF Connect). And RATP Dev will tomorrow be the operator of the "Caen Star" lines. Lastly, in this framework law on transport development, Afra is calling for harmonisation of passenger rights, particularly in disruptive situations, so that passengers can switch to a train operated by any other rail operator.
