Jean Castex will soon be appointed head of the RATP learned franceinfo from his entourage, confirming information from the Figaro. After the green light Tuesday, October 18 from the High Authority for the Transparency of Public Life (HATVP), the former Prime Minister must now be heard by the parliamentary committees, then by the Council of Ministers. Until then, franceinfo is looking into the major issues of the Parisian network with 330 lines and more than three million daily users.
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The social climate
Positioning will first take place in a particular context. Jean Castex will have to recover a public transport network left orphan. His boss, Catherine Guillouard, resigned last September after five years in office and his number two, Philippe Martin, retired at the same time. One of the major projects of the former Prime Minister will be to restore social peace within the company, which is experiencing a very tense climate.
The unions are skeptical of this appointment. “Given the current files and the violence with which the projects are passed, it is difficult to see Jean Castex changing his tunesays Bertrand Dumont, co-secretary of the Solidaires RATP union, especially since the major directives and the timing are already in place.“The RATP intersyndicale is calling for a strike on November 10. A call that had been launched before knowing the name of the new CEO.
Opening up to competition
Jean Castex will have to appease the bad relations with Ile-de-France Mobilités (IDFM), chaired by Valérie Pécresse. Last September, the president of the Ile-de-France region and the CEO of the RATP mutually transferred responsibility for the malfunctions of Parisian buses. Buses that are at the heart of a completely different issue: opening up to competition of the central zone of the Paris conurbation on January 1, 2025. The RATP will lose its monopoly. Twelve lots, including two for Paris (right bank and left bank) will be the subject of calls for tenders within the framework of public service delegations. In the middle and outer suburbs, the DFM has already awarded five lots: three to Keolis (SNCF group), one to Transdev and another to the Lacroix & Savac consortium. This opening up to competition is also desired by the regional authority for the operation of the rail network, according to a timetable which must be completed with the metro and lines A and B of the RER at the end of 2039.
It is to adapt to the opening up to competition that the RATP has modified the working conditions of its bus drivers, which are more advantageous than those in force with its competitors. The new organization of working time provoked a three-day strike in May, called by all the unions.
The shortage of bus drivers
The opening of buses to competition causes tension and concern among drivers, and partly explains the recruitment crisis. Some 4,000 positions are vacant to date at the RATP, including 800 bus drivers. At the end of September, Valérie Pécresse, had summoned the management to present a “action plan“to restore normal bus traffic in the region, when a quarter of the service is not provided.
Bertrand Dumont, co-secretary of the Solidaires RATP union, points out the company’s lack of attractiveness and warns: “If only on the preparation for privatization, we can say that we have dark days ahead. Whether it’s Jean Castex, or another…“