The second round of French parliamentary elections on Sunday saw the left-leaning Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) become the biggest political group in the French Assembly with policies that appear to include the abandonment of the liquidation of Fret SNCF.
The alliance comprises the mainstream Socialist party, the radical left-wing party La France Insoumises (LFI), the Greens, and the Communists. However, allies of standing President Emmanuel Macron underline that the NFP has secured too few MPs to run the country in what is basically a hung parliament. The situation is already fuelling considerable speculation on the future makeup of France’s political landscape.
Nevertheless, it is clear that the NFP will have a big say in forming a new government and appointing France’s next Prime Minister.
No to Fret SNCF’s privatisation
Among the proposals in its manifesto is a ‘No’ to the ‘privatisation’ of Fret SNCF – an allusion to the 20+ traffic routes it has been forced to relinquish and hand over to private operators within the framework of an agreement between France and the European Commission over suspicions that the rail freight operator benefited from illegal state aid.
The manifesto also refers to the “implementation of a rail and freight plan, with the creation of regional express (passenger) services, the adoption of a moratorium on the closure of small lines and their reopening as soon as possible.”
Mixed messages from the Greens
France’s Green Party highlights in its manifesto the need for a real modal shift towards rail for passenger and freight transport. “At a time when the dismantling of Fret SNCF has been announced, we call on the French government to act consistently with the objective of doubling the modal share of rail transport that it is committed to achieving by 2030.”
However, while “defending the massive and rapid development of the railways, it is firmly against the construction of a new Alpine rail tunnel connecting Lyon and Turin. Rather, it calls for “the adaptation and effective operation” of the existing line, which is currently underused.
The Green Party goes on to argue that targeted investment and optimised operation could be an effective solution for transalpine traffic, which would be far less costly and less damaging to the environment than a new line.
Work should be re-focused on the optimisation and safety of the existing lines, the development of intermodal platforms and the protection of residents, it adds, “so that the equivalent of two-thirds of the HGVs currently using the Mont Blanc and Fréjus road tunnels can quickly be put on to rail and passenger services can be improved.”