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The French lose 340 million minutes per year due to avoidable train delays, says consumer group

An old and underfunded railway network directly is responsible for delays which are turning French people off train travel, according to a study from consumer group UFC-Que Choisir published on Tuesday.

Published: 5 October 2021 10:08 CEST
People check for information on delayed trains in Paris.
People check for information on delayed trains in Paris in July 2021. Photo: Samantha DUBOIS / AFP.

People in France lost 340 million minutes in 2018 due to infrastructure failings, according to the study.

And those are only the avoidable delays. In 2017, the Autorité de la qualité de service dans les transports reported that travellers lost 2 billion minutes every year due to train delays. UFC-Que Choisir’s study found that 17 percent of these delays were due to France’s ageing and deteriorating network of tracks, 

Lack of investment

“The investment strategy pursued since the beginning of the 1980s put extending the network above maintaining exististing infrastructure,” its authors wrote. As a consequence, UFC-Que Choisir estimates, 23 percent of France’s railway network had surpassed its optimal lifespan in 2019.

The group notably pointed towards sections of track where trains are forced to slow down in order to ensure they can circulate safely. The stretches affected by this went from 3,400 km in 2012 to 5,300 km in 2017, according to the report.

The “chronic under-investment” has also had an impact on productivity, according to UFC-Que Choisir, which affirms, “Running a train required 2.8 times more employees and 1.7 times more resources than in neighbouring European countries”. The study claims that the UK is able to run 3.4 times more trains per employee than France.

READ ALSO SNCF set to lose bid for regional French railway line for first time ever

It adds that for the same population, France provides travellers with 37 percent fewer trains than its neighbours.

Small lines

The impact of deteriorating infrastructure disproportionately affects the “small lines” which mainly connect people in rural areas and medium-sized towns. According to the association, these lines are responsible for 70 percent of the sections of track which require trains to slow down, or 22 percent of their length.

“The dilapidation of the infrastructure influences the quality of the service, which accelerates users’ disaffection, in favour of the car, and sets in motion of vicious circle of abandoning trains.”

The report concludes that 40 percent of this secondary network, which represents 17 percent of regional train travel, is at risk of being closed due to a lack of passengers.

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TRAVEL NEWS

Reader question: What will EES mean for foreigners living in Europe?

The EU's new Entry & Exit System (EES) of enhanced passport controls is due to come into force later this year, but among many questions that remain is the situation for non-EU nationals who live in the EU or Schengen zone.

Published: 27 April 2024 07:59 CEST
Reader question: What will EES mean for foreigners living in Europe?

Currently scheduled to start in autumn 2024 (unless it’s delayed again, which is not unlikely) the EU’s new Entry & Exit System is basically an enhanced passport check at external EU borders, including a facial scan and fingerprinting.

You can find a full explanation of the new system HERE.

Travellers crossing an external EU or Schengen border for the first time will be required to complete EES ‘pre-registration’ formalities including that facial scan and fingerprinting.

There are, however, several groups exempt from EES and one of them is non-EU nationals who have a residency permit or long-stay visa for an EU country.

So if you’re a foreigner living in the EU or Schengen zone, here’s what you need to know.

Exempt

One of the stated aims of EES is to tighten up enforcement of over-staying – IE, people who stay longer than 90 days in every 180 without a visa, or those who overstay the limits of their visa.

Obviously these limits do not apply to non-EU nationals who are resident in the EU or Schengen zone, which is why this group is exempt from EES checks. They will instead be required to show their passport and residency permit/visa when crossing a border, just as they do now.

In its explanations of how EES will work, the European Commission is clear – exempt groups include non-EU residents of the Bloc.

A Commission spokesman told The Local: “Non-EU citizens residing in the EU are not in the scope of the EES and will not be subject to pre-enrollment of data in the EES via self-service systems. The use of automation remains under the responsibility of the Member States and its availability in border crossing points is not mandatory.

“When crossing the borders, holders of EU residence permits should be able to present to the border authorities their valid travel documents and residence permits.”

How this will work

How this will work on the ground, however, is a lot less clear.

Most ports/airports/terminals have two passport queues – EU and non-EU. It remains unclear whether the non-EU queue will have a separate section for those who are exempt from EES.

It does seem clear that exempt groups will not be able to use the automated passport scanners – since those cannot scan additional documents like residency permits – but should instead use manned passport booths. However it is not clear whether these will be available at all airports/ports/terminals or how non-EU residents of the EU will be directed to those services.

There’s also the issue that individual border guards are not always clear on the processes and rules for non-EU residents of the EU – even under the current system it’s relatively commonly for EU residents to have their passports incorrectly stamped or be given incorrect information about passport stamping by border guards.

Brits in particular will remember the immediate post-Brexit period when the processes as described by the EU and national authorities frequently did not match what was happening on the ground.

The Local will continue to try and get answers on these questions. 

READ ALSO What will EES mean for dual nationals

What if I live in the EU but I don’t have a visa/residency permit?

For most non-EU citizens, having either a visa or a residency permit is obligatory in order to be legally resident.

However, there is one exception: UK citizens who were legally resident in the EU prior to the end of the Brexit transition period and who live in one of the “declaratory” countries where getting a post-Brexit residency card was optional, rather than compulsory. Declaratory countries include Germany and Italy.

Although it is legal for people in this situation to live in those countries without a residency permit, authorities already advise people to get one in order to avoid confusion/hassle/delays at the border. Although EES does not change any rules relating to residency or travel, it seems likely that it will be more hassle to travel without a residency card than it is now.

Our advice? Things are going to be chaotic enough, getting a residency permit seems likely to save you a considerable amount of hassle.

Delays 

Although residents of the EU do not need to complete EES formalities, they will be affected if the new system causes long queues or delays at the border.

Several countries have expressed worries about this, with the UK-France border a particular cause for concern.

READ ALSO Travellers could face ’14 hours queues’ at UK-France border

Where does it apply?

EES is about external EU/Schengen borders, so does not apply if you are travelling within the Schengen zone – eg taking the train from France to Germany or flying from Spain to Sweden.

Ireland and Cyprus, despite being in the EU, are not in the Schengen zone so will not be using EES, they will continue to stamp passports manually.

Norway, Switzerland and Iceland – countries that are in the Schengen zone but not in the EU – will be using EES.

The full list of countries using EES is: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Therefore a journey between any of the countries listed above will not be covered by EES.

However a journey in or out of any of those countries from a country not listed above will be covered by EES.

You can find our full Q&A on EES HERE.

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