France public transport fares should double, claims report to Transport Ministry
French passenger fares currently cover less than a fifth of the total service cost
Unions have already come out in opposition to the suggestion that passenger fares need to double
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Public transport ticket prices in France could double after a new study, as the government looks at making passengers pay more of the cost.
The new impact study by the Transport Ministry recommends an almost-doubling of the fees paid by passengers on Metro and TER services across France, reports RMC, which obtained a copy of the report.
Regional and local authorities currently have the power to set fare prices for their bus, train, and metro networks. However, the Transport Ministry report found that these fares are too low, as they cover on average just 17% of the total cost of the service.
The target should be at least 30%, said the ministry.
This would bring France in line with Italy, but still keep the percentage well below other countries, including Switzerland (close to 50%) and “almost 100%” in England, said François Délétraz, president of the transport user federation la Fédération nationale des usagers des transports, to RMC.
“We are one of the countries in Europe where users pay the least to travel short distances,” he said.
The Ministry of Transport has also pointed out that in the 1970s, passenger contributions to the total cost of train services were four times’ higher, proportionally, than they are now.
‘No immediate plans’
It comes as a new law on transport financing is set to be presented to the cabinet on February 11. This law would introduce the automatic indexing of public transport fares to inflation (excluding TGVs and aeroplane travel) to help finance railway and road maintenance.
This means that fares would automatically increase with inflation, on top of any other fare increases.
However, Economy Minister Roland Lescure has claimed that there are no immediate plans to double fares.
He said: “Public transport is subsidised, and that is a good thing. It is more developed in France than anywhere else in the world. We will continue with this model. It is true that we will have to finance new investments, but no, there are no hidden or open plans to double transport prices for users.”
Criticism: Fewer users?
Unions have already come out in opposition to the suggestion that passenger fares need to double to cover more of the cost of rail travel, and warned that continually increasing prices will deter people from using public transport altogether.
“The more you increase the passenger's share of the cost of season tickets and fares, the fewer people will leave their cars behind to take public transport,” said Fabien Villedieu, federal secretary of the Sud Rail railway union.
The new report comes after a 2024 study across 27 European operators by campaign group Transport & Environment found that train fares in the UK were “particularly costly”, and on average “two-and-a-half times higher than the average across European Union and Swiss operators for routes of similar lengths”.
In France, Ouigo tickets ranked second-best by ticket price (just behind winner Flixtrain, the German operator), while SNCF came in 19th place out of 27.
