“You have to put an end to this idea that the train is expensive in France”, according to an expert

The Sncf announced on Friday August 26 the next possibility for travelers to pay for their tickets in several instalments. A proposal denounced on franceinfo by Michel Quidort, the president of the European federation of travelers, for whom it is necessary on the contrary to lower the price of tickets. A solution that Yves Crozet, transport economist and professor at Sciences Po, does not support. “We have to put an end to this idea that the train is expensive in France”, he underlines Friday August 26 in the evening on franceinfo. Expert admits, some tickets are expensive depending on supply and demand.

“When you want to leave during rush hour on a Friday evening, effectively to do Paris-Lyon you can pay 100 euros”he acknowledges. “I have just looked on the Sncf website, next Tuesday for example August 30, you have a train for Bordeaux from Paris in second class for 39 euros, which means 6 cents per kilometer”, he says. The same journey by car, including petrol and tolls, would cost around 10 cents per kilometer according to the expert. The key to these lower prices? The adaptability of departure times.

According to Yves Crozet, “the French are overreacting”. “In absolute value, the cost of rail transport is not very high and is lower than in Spain and Germany”he adds, recalling that TGV journeys are not subsidized unlike regional trains.