French rail freight operator Fret SNCF is to shed a further 73 posts. These layoffs are to be added to the 453 jobs to be axed as a result of the company’s discontinuity plan implemented by the French government to avoid heavy sanctions from the European Union. The 73 redundancies in question will also be accompanied by the creation of 11 new posts.
Commenting on the fresh round of job cuts, a spokesperson for Rail Logistics Europe (RLE), the umbrella structure of SNCF Group’s rail freight and logistics operations, told RailFreight.com: “In addition to the discontinuity to be carried out by Fret SNCF, a performance plan was already underway at the company with the aim of optimising processes, reducing structural costs and improving its competitiveness on the market. These are on top of the job cuts linked to the discontinuity.”
The future of Fret SNCF
As a consequence of its discontinuity, Fret SNCF will be divided into two new entities at the end of this year: New Fret, which will retain 80 per cent of Fret SNCF’s operations, and New Maintenance, which will pick up maintenance activities. New Fret will be headed by the current CEO of Fret SNCF, Charles Puech d’Alissac, the RLE spokesperson confirmed.
However, there are restrictions on its scope of activity as under the discontinuity plan it will be prohibited from operating regular block trains and combined transport for 10 years. Earlier this year, it emerged that 15 of the 20 or so traffic routes that Fret SNCF has been forced to relinquish under the plan have been taken on by competitors, including six by DB Cargo France.
Finally, the second round of French parliamentary elections earlier this month saw the left-leaning Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) become the biggest group in the French Assembly with policies that appear to include the abandonment of the liquidation of Fret SNCF. However, the NFP has since struggled to form a government leaving France in a political stalemate, a situation which is unlikely to change some time soon.