The figures have been climbing for three years, which seems to confirm the dynamics of rail transport since the release of the COVVID crisis.
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The figures communicated, Thursday, June 19, by the Transport Regulatory Authority in its annual report are unequivocal. In 2024, trains attendance in France broke a record for the third consecutive year, there were 6% more travelers than in 2023, the same rate of progression as over the previous two years. A craze carried mainly by regional trains, especially TERs and intercities.
Several factors explain this progression of traffic, including the strong point of summer 2024 with the combined effect of the Olympic Games and the Pass-Rail offering young people to travel unlimited on regional trains at a preferential rate. Second element: competition which, still according to the regulatory authority, made it possible to lower prices by 10% on average and therefore increase demand. For example, on the Paris-Lyon axis where SNCF-Voyageurs and the Italian company Trenitalia is faced, the trains attendance increased by 20% compared to 2019, before Covid, benefiting the two companies.
This dynamic does not only concern France. It is much wider. Over the 2019-2024 period, the attendance of trains between France and Spain jumped 30%, paces two to three times higher than the national average. Everywhere in Europe, the craze for rail travel has been confirmed since the exit of the COVIR. On average, trains attendance in 2024 across the European continent was 10% higher than that of 2019 and COVVID. Special mention for Spain which saw the frequentation of trains increase thanks to the competition, with in particular the arrival of Ouigo España, a low-cost subsidiary of the SNCF, which thus benefits from its international investments.
This success also concerns freight trafficking, which increased after two years of significant decline. According to the Transport Regulatory Authority, freight trains have transported 10% more goods compared to 2023 in France. Encouraging figures that remain to be confirmed in the complicated economic context.
