The SNCF ensures that all its trains should run this summer and points to an extraordinary enthusiasm for the train this summer.
“Sold out”, “not bookable”… For the past few weeks, people who want to book a TGV for the holidays have been tearing their hair out.
On social networks, the messages are multiplying. Especially since the trains sometimes seem all full on one day and this when the school holidays have not yet officially started.
The most tense destinations seem to be from Paris the South-East, Brittany and the South-West.
All the more surprising that even the mid-week trains are also full. Impossible for example to book a Paris-Marseille this Wednesday June 22 or this Thursday June 23. Usually it is Fridays that can be difficult to access, not the midweek trains without a bridge.
Would the SNCF have undersized its train offer for this start of summer? Joined by BFM Business, the company assures that it is doing its best but that it is constrained by its number of trains.
“All the trains are running”
“All the trains will be in circulation this summer: 800 TGV and Intercités and 14,000 regional trains every day, at least as many as in 2019, assures a spokesperson for the company. All available trains will be released, there has no trains in reserve.”
The company even indicates that SNCF Voyageurs has anticipated demand with 500,000 additional places which would have been offered on high speed for this summer compared to summer 2019, in particular on the most requested routes.
The difficulties would rather come from the very sharp increase in demand. According to the SNCF, 6.5 million TGV tickets were sold for the months of July and August. A level that exceeds that of pre-crisis.
“This is a level of reservations up by more than +10% compared to 2019 on the same date, indicates the company. This good dynamic is in continuity with the month of May which was already up compared to May 2019. “
For TERs, the increase would even be 20% compared to the same period of 2019.
A craze that may seem paradoxical even though ticket prices are rising sharply according to INSEE (which the SNCF denies).
Postponed trips
The company explains it by a stronger enthusiasm this year for the trip to France. With the difficulties related to purchasing power and in particular energy costs, the French would have given up going far and would have rushed on train tickets several weeks ago.
The “revenge travel” is finally put forward by the SNCF to explain this extraordinary enthusiasm. After two years of health crisis, there would be a catch-up effect of trips not made in the last two years.
Aware of traveler dissatisfaction, the company launched a new OuiGo ticket exchange service at the end of June with the start-up Fairlyne.
“We have a lot of trains that are full, especially in the summer, almost 40% (…), admitted last week at the VivaTech show Florian Etchanchu, manager of supply strategy at Ouigo. But we know that we have additional customers who would like to travel with us.”
Customers just have to cross their fingers for travelers to cancel their trips…
#Summer #holidays #trains #full #SNCF #offer #places
