Does Lionel Messi prefer “window” or “corridor” seats in the TGV? Family squares or “solo” squares? Top or bottom compartment? Impossible to know at the moment. PSG coach Christophe Galtier does not seem ready to consider a train trip for his team as part of a Ligue 1 match.
The Parisian coach prefers “the sand yacht”, as he suggested on Monday August 5, or, more seriously, the private plane. A faster means of transport, but also more polluting. In 2019-2020, according to a study commissioned by the Professional Football League (LFP), 65% of trips by Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 clubs were made by plane, 31% by bus, and only 4% by train.
While the French are called to energy sobriety and in the face of the climate crisis, this unbridled recourse to the plane for short journeys is finding it increasingly difficult to pass. Are there really viable alternatives? Is the SNCF able to meet the constraints of the teams?
Several options are available to sports clubs to transport their teams on French high-speed lines. They can buy simple tickets on SNCF Connect and travel among ordinary passengers. A simple solution often used by athletes with little media coverage but unrealistic for a group of world football stars.
Two other possibilities offered by the SNCF seem more suitable: privatizing one or more cars of a TGV or chartering a special train. A specific service of about fifteen SNCF agents is even dedicated to these few hundred special trains which run each year, specifies the company to franceinfo. Based on a club’s request, this service can provide a detailed estimate for the service requested.
On its site, the SNCF offers dedicated services for these special TGVs. No triangle sandwiches or warming jars: players could enjoy a tailor-made catering service brought instead. Clubs can even travel in their colors, with stickers affixed to the trains. Better, the SNCF offers a red carpet service (and dedicated platform) on departure and arrival.
Another factor can hinder teams: security. Regarding the first point, the arrival or departure of players in a major Parisian station during rush hour may seem, at first glance, quite complex to organize. “We know how to do”, we are assured by the SNCF. The railway group has its own railway security personnel, which can be deployed to block access to a car, for example.
Some Parisian stations are also suitable for easy and discreet boarding for these particular travellers. This is the case of the Gare de Lyon, which has easily accessible routes outside the passenger halls, and the Gare Montparnasse, whose Vaugirard sector is directly accessible by bus. It is also possible to leave from peripheral stations, ensures the SNCF. The XV of France rugby takes the TGV from Massy station, just 15 kilometers from the national rugby center of Marcoussis (Essonne).
Securing these stations does not seem more complex than securing an airport. “The SNCF has already transported the Queen of Englandor more recently a Prime Ministershe knows how to do it”confirms Marie-Hélène Poingt, editor-in-chief of Rail Life, at franceinfo. According to her, the security risk argument “is a bit of a pretext on the part of PSG” so as not to consider the train solution.
There remains a more delicate subject: the return of the teams after a match scheduled for the evening. The TGVs do not run at night, because many maintenance and renovation works are carried out on the rail network during these night breaks. Of course, exceptions are possible to this lane closure. “It’s case by case. recognizes the SNCF. Our teams know the work planned, often years in advance. They can thus determine whether or not it is possible to run a TGV at night on part of the network.
Requests from football clubs could well get stuck on this aspect, especially if the request is made at the last moment. “For me, this is the main obstacle, believes Marie-Hélène Poingt, editor-in-chief of Rail Life. In recent years, there has been a lot of work at night to cope with the aging of the French rail network. Many tracks are therefore completely closed to train traffic at night, with no possibility of reopening them. The slightest delay (match ending later than expected, difficulty getting players to the station, incident on the tracks, etc.) could prevent players from returning home the same evening.
The movement of football clubs by train will therefore have to be organized and thought out well in advance in order to be able to materialize. In the meantime, the SNCF is counting on the emergence of this subject in the public debate to win new contracts. “We are in discussions with many clubs, we slip on the side of the SNCF. We’ll see if we sign PSG or not.”