After two years of negotiations, the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region and SNCF have finally reached agreement on the new TER convention. The two parties have reached a financing agreement for the TER transport system for a period of 6 years, until 2023: a date corresponding to the expiry date at which it will no longer be possible to conclude such contracts by mutual agreement, but necessarily after an open call for tenders, as the European Commision requests. The goal of the SCNF is to reduce TER trains delays by 40%. TER is the rail regional suburban network in France.
More safety and punctuality of the trains, with stiffer penalties: the presidents of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and the SNCF, Laurent Wauquiez and Guillaume Pepy presented the future TER convention in Lyon, fruit of long and hard negotiations.
The EU regulation sets out a framework for awarding public service contracts and compensating for public service obligations. Given that no common EU rules on the award of such contracts apply, some Member States introduced competitive tendering for these contracts, while others award them directly. This patchwork of regulatory systems in the EU makes it difficult for railway companies to exploit the full potential of operating in an Internal Market.
The impact assessment showed that a combination of proposed measures would have an economic, environmental and social impact and would generate a net present value of between EUR 21 and EUR 29 billion from 2019 to 2035.
Returning to the new French agreement, certainly, this is one of the most important agreements by the extent of the network especially since the merger of the two regions. It is also very important by the figures announced by 2020: trains delays will be reduced by 40% and 50% less trains will have to be canceled. With its 1500 trains and 600 coaches, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes is the first TER region of France.
Covering the 2017/2022 period – with retroactivity to 1 January – this agreement, which still has to be officially validated, is the first to implement the CAP TER 2020 Revitalization Plan, launched at the end of 2016 by SNCF. It represents for the latter a “gigantic contract” of EUR 3 to 4 billion, an annual cost of about EUR 543 million for the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. The board of directors of the SNCF should validate it mid-December after advisory opinion of the Regional Establishment Committee.
A reinforced “bonus-malus” system will be put in place for the most troubled lines – those linking Lyon to Saint-Étienne, Grenoble and Chambéry. If the annual regularity target is not achieved, penalties may reach EUR 1.2 million per year and per line. On the other hand, SNCF will receive a bonus of EUR 1.2 million.
The TER agreement is accompanied by an investment from the region and the SNCF to improve the equipment and consequently the punctuality and quality of the trips. A plan of EUR 252 million is envisaged to refurbish all trains arriving mid-life. A plan to safeguard the small lines threatened with closure, launched in late 2016 by Laurent Wauquiez, provides for a global investment of EUR 264 million.
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes is the second region for TER, after Île-de-France. Most of the trains operating on this region are Alstom Regiolis trains. The Region is trying to show that it wants to be more severe and more incentive with regard to the SNCF which, in return, seeks to look good as the deadline of the calls for tenders gets closer.
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