Ambition France Transport Conference: a first structuring stage for financing the railway

Ambition France Transport Conference: a first structuring stage for financing the railway For two months, the Federation of Railway Industries participated actively in the work of the Ambition France Transports Funding Conference, launched by Prime Minister François Bayrou and Transport Minister Philippe TABAROT, in order to meet the challenge of financing infrastructure and transport services. Represented by its president Patrick Jeantet, the FIF took part in the discussions, both in session and through its acting book, in order to defend an industrial, systemic and sustainable vision of the railway. We welcome the fact that several of our proposals, which we share with many players in the sector, have been included in the conclusions, in particular: - Recognition of chronic underinvestment and network ageing, with details on the "grey debt" and risks to system performance. - The investment target increased to €1.5 billion/year to reach €4.5 billion/year as early as 2028, which all railway players consider necessary. - The need for a multiannual transport programming act - The use of innovative financing: green taxation, public-private partnerships (PPPs), concessions, tolls, etc. - The proposal to condition the Mobility Payment to the performance of the AOM. But we regret that the financing of railway rolling stock has been absent from the debate, whereas it constitutes with infrastructure the two sides of the same coin: that of the railway system. Several of our key proposals have not been taken up: - Standardization and reduction of the structural costs of rolling stock and rail in general, - The creation of a national ROSCO to facilitate the purchase of regional rolling stock and allow economies of scale, - reduction of standards and regulatory simplification for saving time and money, For FIF, financing of the railway cannot be considered without a comprehensive approach, encompassing both tracks and trains. It is a single industrial value chain to be strengthened whose benefits can be combined. We therefore call for the rapid extension of discussions to the whole rail system, including rolling stock, serving sustainable and sovereign mobility. #IndustryFerry #FIF #MobilityDurable #AmbitionFranceTransports