This is the first time that a private competitor of the SNCF will run trains on this busy regional line.
Competition is coming to the SNCF network. While at least two foreign operators are preparing to launch in 2022 on the TGV lines, Transdev announces this Tuesday its ambitions on the regional line Marseille-Toulon-Nice after being chosen by the Regional Council following its victory in the call for tenders. This is the first time that a private competitor of the SNCF, until then in a monopoly situation, will run trains on this very busy TER line.
The contract, which will be effective from July 2025, covers 10 years and requires Transdev to double the number of daily round trips on the line. An objective confirmed by the operator who details his offer.
The SNCF service highly criticized by users
Trandev announces in fact "14 return connections per day and schedules per hour over a wider time range, thus providing more quality of service, reliability, regularity and punctuality (97.5% of punctual trains ), an aspect expected by everyday travelers ", one can read in a press release.
Remember that the SNCF's offer has been severely criticized for years by users for its chronic problems and by the region through its president Renaud Muselier (Les Républicains).
The latter hastened as soon as possible (in 2019) to organize the first call for tenders in France for the TER following the application of European law which imposes competition for rail traffic for all regions from of December 2023.
Still with the aim of improving the service offering, Transdev will order 16 new new trainsets from Alstom. They will be on two levels and will be able to carry up to 418 passengers. They will be "equipped with electrical and USB outlets, offering high levels of comfort and on-board service such as air conditioning, a wifi portal, and a catering area. To enhance safety on board, cameras will be present in each train" , adds the private operator.
16 new trainsets ordered from Alstom
The group will also build with NGE a new maintenance and storage site near Nice in order to offer "total availability of trainsets, in particular during peak periods". In total, this site and the new trains will require an investment of 250 million euros.
SNCF drivers will be transferred to Transdev with "guarantee of social benefits" but the operator announces 80 job creations.
"This announcement is excellent news for Transdev, the Region and its inhabitants. Thanks to new, more comfortable trains equipped with numerous services, with the doubling of the number of trains each day and an organization designed to ensure better reliability of the service, we are going to help strengthen the attractiveness of this structuring line for the South region ", comments Thierry Mallet, Chairman and CEO of the Transdev Group.
A hard blow for the SNCF
Resulting from the merger in 2011 of Transdev and Veolia Transport, Transdev, a 66% -owned subsidiary of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, transports 11 million passengers daily, by bus, coach or train. In Germany, the group has become number two in rail since the end of the monopoly of Deutsche Bahn in 1994.
It is a blow for the SNCF which loses here 10% of the regional offer in traffic. The carrier can nevertheless console himself with the other lot involved in the region ... where he was the only one to apply. Namely the "Azur" lines, including the connections between Les Arcs / Draguignan (Var) and Vintimille (Italy), as well as the Nice-Tende and Cannes-Grasse (Alpes-Maritimes) lines. This second lot, estimated at 1.5 billion euros (23% of regional traffic), was also granted for 10 years, from December 2024.
Other calls for tenders for regional lines
Remember that other regional calls for offers are underway: in the Pays de la Loire, in the Grand Est and in Haut-de-France (for three lines) where SNCF risks losing its monopoly again.
The process of opening the very juicy Ile-de-France RER / SNCF network, which generates no less than 12 billion euros in turnover with the potential arrival of new scheduled operators, was also launched last December. for 2023 on three lines.
Several operators are positioned: Transdev is targeting the Grand Est just like RATP Dev Rail (which brings together the Parisian agency and Getlink) which has also positioned itself in Hauts-de-France (three lines). And foreign players are also in the running, such as Trenitalia and Abellio (an international subsidiary of NS, the Dutch public operator).
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