The Minister Delegate for Transport was the guest of “8:30 a.m. franceinfo”, Thursday March 25, 2023.
Clement Beaune, mMinister Delegate to the Minister for Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion, in charge of Transport, was the guest of 8:30 a.m. franceinfo, Thursday March 25, 2023. Domestic flights, train ticket prices, ecological bonuses… He responds to the questions from Marc Fauvelle and Salhia Brakhlia.
Domestic flights canceled in the event of a rail alternative: “We will go further”
Since Tuesday May 24, air connections are prohibited across France if there is an alternative by train less than 2h30 away. This concerns three lines: the connections between Bordeaux, Nantes, Lyon and Orly. “We will go further. The list will be reviewed twice a year to see if the rail offer improves”says Clement Beaune. “Perhaps we will also gradually tighten this 2:30 am rule to bring it around, for example, 3 am”he adds. “We close three lines and we will continue. It’s not a gimmick at all”he assures.
The minister claims to be the only European country to have implemented this measure. “I hope that several European countries will follow this measure and we will improve it and make it grow”he said.
Train ticket prices: “We can do better”
“We must think about initiatives on tariffs”, believes the Minister of Transport while the French consider the prices of train tickets too expensive. For Clément Beaune, ticket prices for local trains, TER and Intercités, remain affordable: “When I compare them to the average European cost, we are rather quite low”, he believes. The question of the price of TGVs remains a concern, as high-speed lines are not financed by the State or the regions: “I asked the SNCF to develop commercial offers for young people, especially in the coming months. We can do better”he assures.
Clément Beaune wants even more clarity on prices: “Sometimes there is the fact that we don’t understand anything. Why a TER in one direction from Bordeaux to Toulouse, it’s a certain price, from Toulouse to Bordeaux, it’s another price. So we’re going to simplify that”, he explains. The establishment of “single ticket” throughout the territory, desired by the minister, goes in this direction, according to him.
Train air conditioning: “systematic” for trains, not for stations
Clément Beaune wishes that all “our TER become air-conditioned” while France is preparing for a scenario of 4 additional degrees in 2100 due to global warming. The Minister of Transport believes that we must remain “prudent and reasonable” on air conditioning. The TGVs, the Intercités and 90% of the TERs are air-conditioned today, according to him. He wants the establishment of “techniques which mean that it doesn’t consume a lot and above all that we don’t have air conditioning systematically”. For “stations, often open spaces, it depends on the configurations. It will not be systematic. But in the trains, it must be systematic for the TGV, Intercités and TER”, he explains. In Ile-de-France, “two-thirds” Transiliens now have air conditioning: “The new trains will gradually all be air-conditioned”he says.
Modernization of the rail: “A priority”
Clément Beaune wants to modernize the rail network “the oldest in Europe”. He actually “a priority because that’s what makes you have delays on lines that create a feeling of downgrading among many French people”, he said. Global warming and bad weather are likely to worsen the situation in the future: “We have a 100 billion euro rail plan. It is completely historic between now and 2040, because we have to invest in the long term. And one of the main measures of this plan is to “invest in this rail network. By 2027, we will increase by 50%. That’s 1.5 billion euros per year”.
To finance rail, the government is thinking of a contribution from air transport, although Augustin de Romanet, the CEO of Aéroports de Paris, is totally opposed to it: “It is Parliament that votes on laws and taxes in special,” he said. “The air will contribute more to the financing of the train. It would be fair to have a contribution on the plane tickets” for “the ecological transition”, he assures.
Ecological bonus: “Refocus the bonus” on European and French models
While Emmanuel Macron wants to review the rules of the ecological bonus for the purchase of an electric car, the Minister of Transport opposes its payment for Chinese or American cars in particular: “The goal is obviously not only to have a growing fleet of electric cars, but also to do so in a sovereign way, that is to say with vehicles that are produced in France and in Europe”he explained.
Today, almost half of the ecological bonus, the taxpayer’s money goes to non-European models and in particular Chinese: “We are going to put in place a rule that takes into account the environmental criterion. When you produce a car in France and Europe, it is much less polluting than a Chinese vehicle. So that will refocus the bonus on these models”he explained.
Fret SNCF: “It’s its survival that is at stake”
“I am fighting so that Fret SNCF does not have to reimburse these 5 billion euros. It must be said very clearly, it is the survival of Fret SNCF, of public rail freight in France, which is at stake”, said Clément Beaune. The Commission suspects Fret SNCF of violating competition rules and threatens to impose a heavy fine. The company risks being forced to repay more than 5 billion euros in aid paid for years by the French state, support contrary to European rules, according to Brussels.
The government could accept a compromise: partially dismantle the subsidiary of the SNCF against the judgment of the procedure. “I assume to have a discussion with the European authorities so that we have a solution that preserves jobs”he said. “There was a hard fight, several months of discussions to avoid a procedure. This procedure is there. It is the reality. I do not want to play Russian roulette”he assured.
The “primeur train” Perpignan-Rungis “will continue to run”
“Yes, it will continue to roll. This is the fight I am fighting”, he assures us that the future of the train des primeurs, relaunched by Jean Castex in 2021, remains uncertain. He was put on hold during the mobilization against the pension reform. “There will be a primeur train which will provide the link between Rungis and Perpignan which will probably no longer be Fret SNCF”he says. “It can be another public or private operator”he points out.
Electric car rental at 100 euros: in “November”, we can make “reservations”
“In November, we can start making reservations and the vehicles that will be eligible for this social leasing, €100 for the most modest households, will be available from next year”, he says. Renting an electric car for 100 euros is a promise from Emmanuel Macron. “The idea is for it to be quickly easily accessible to the most modest households”, he explains. The government’s objective over the five-year term is that at least “100,000 people” be “concerned”.
Ukraine: “Marine Le Pen remains Vladimir Putin’s best parrot in France”
Heard on Wednesday by the National Assembly’s commission of inquiry into foreign interference, Marine Le Pen denied being under Russian influence despite the loan she took out and continues to repay to a Russian bank. . “Marine Le Pen remains Vladimir Putin’s best parrot in France”assures Clément Beaune. “We have Télé Marine which is a bit like Télé Poutine in reality”he says as European authorities shut down the two Russian media outlets RT and Sputnik after the invasion in Ukraine.
“She is repeating the position and the propaganda of the Kremlin, she is repeating lies and I think it is extremely serious because France, since the post-war period, all presidents combined, fourth and fifth Republic, has defended international law , the principles of the United Nations”he explains.
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