Latest news with #RéseauActionClimat
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
France saw record night train passengers in 2024, but can it keep up with booming demand?
Sleeper trains are undeniably the transport of the moment right now. New routes have received a flurry of media attention, and travellers are bumping a night on the rails to the top of their bucket lists. In fact, passenger data from France suggests night trains could continue to see record traveller numbers - if only supply could meet the demand. According to a recent report by French climate campaign group Réseau Action Climat, the biggest challenge facing the success of sleeper services is a lack of trains. Night trains in France are on track to be one of the country's most popular forms of transport. 2024 was a record year for the sleeper services, with more than a million passengers using them in France. Night trains were 76 per cent full on average, and even more than 80 per cent full on the two main routes, Paris-Toulouse and Paris-Nice. The line between Paris and Toulouse attracted nearly 100,000 additional passengers between 2019 and 2024 (growth of 64 per cent). Night trains are becoming an increasingly popular option with business travellers, who made up 30 per cent of users in 2023. On the only two international lines (Paris-Vienna and Paris-Berlin), passenger numbers were also high, despite numerous delays and a three-month suspension of services in 2024. According to a survey by the Europe on Rails collective, 72 per cent of French people would be willing to take the night train if the ticket price was acceptable and the connection available. While these soaring passenger numbers should be a positive sign, France's limited fleet of trains can't cope with the demand. In fact, this is forcing travellers to choose alternative, often more polluting forms of transport, or cancel their trip completely, the climate group's report found. To relieve congestion on existing lines and open new ones, it found, France needs to expand its fleet far beyond the current 129 sleeper cars. Plus, lines need to expand to connect cities other than Paris to other European hubs. The report stresses that getting night trains back on the right track would have multiple benefits. Firstly, they are an effective way of connecting rural or isolated areas with cities without requiring passengers to change mid-journey. Although longer than flying, night trains are also a more environmentally friendly way to get between Europe's major cities. Of the 10 main air links from France to the rest of Europe, at least six could be made by night train (Paris-Madrid, Paris-Barcelona, Paris-Milan, Paris-Rome, Nice-London, Paris-Venice). Choosing a sleeper service over a high-speed TGV daytime equivalent can also save you money. The night train from Paris to Toulouse, for example, starts at nearly €30 cheaper than the TGV, and you don't need to pay for a night in a hotel. The report proposes two options for expansion with a deadline of 2035. The less ambitious goal is to reach a fleet of 340 sleeper cars, which would allow for the reopening of lines such as Paris-Barcelona or Nice-Strasbourg. This scenario would make it possible to transport 3.6 million passengers and save 400,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent, it says. The more ambitious proposal is to expand to 600 cars, which is the fleet size recommended by the Ministry of Transport's 2024 report on night trains. This would allow for the reopening of lines such as Paris-Venice or Bordeaux-Lyon, making it possible to transport 5.8 million passengers and save 800,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Related Eurostar rivals given 'green signal' for cross-Channel trains: What could it mean for passengers? All aboard the future: How high-speed battery-powered trains will change European rail travel By 2040, the report proposes an expansion to 1,200 cars, which would pave the way for international lines without going through Paris (e.g., Lyon-Rome, Nantes-Barcelona, Marseille-London). These would carry 12 million passengers and save 2 million tons of CO2 equivalent. 'The record ridership in 2024 demonstrates the French people's appetite for night trains,' Réseau Action Climat writes. 'Political will was there when it came to reversing the trend in 2020 and relaunching night lines. It is needed again today to change the scale.'
Euronews
3 days ago
- Euronews
More than 1 million people took a night train trip in France in 2024
Sleeper trains are undeniably the transport of the moment right now. New routes have received a flurry of media attention, and travellers are bumping a night on the rails to the top of their bucket lists. In fact, passenger data from France suggests night trains could continue to see record traveller numbers - if only supply could meet the demand. According to a recent report by French climate campaign group Réseau Action Climat, the biggest challenge facing the success of sleeper services is a lack of trains. Night trains in France are on track to be one of the country's most popular forms of transport. 2024 was a record year for the sleeper services, with more than a million passengers using them in France. Night trains were 76 per cent full on average, and even more than 80 per cent full on the two main routes, Paris-Toulouse and Paris-Nice. The line between Paris and Toulouse attracted nearly 100,000 additional passengers between 2019 and 2024 (growth of 64 per cent). Night trains are becoming an increasingly popular option with business travellers, who made up 30 per cent of users in 2023. On the only two international lines (Paris-Vienna and Paris-Berlin), passenger numbers were also high, despite numerous delays and a three-month suspension of services in 2024. According to a survey by the Europe on Rails collective, 72 per cent of French people would be willing to take the night train if the ticket price was acceptable and the connection available. While these soaring passenger numbers should be a positive sign, France's limited fleet of trains can't cope with the demand. In fact, this is forcing travellers to choose alternative, often more polluting forms of transport, or cancel their trip completely, the climate group's report found. To relieve congestion on existing lines and open new ones, it found, France needs to expand its fleet far beyond the current 129 sleeper cars. Plus, lines need to expand to connect cities other than Paris to other European hubs. The report stresses that getting night trains back on the right track would have multiple benefits. Firstly, they are an effective way of connecting rural or isolated areas with cities without requiring passengers to change mid-journey. Although longer than flying, night trains are also a more environmentally friendly way to get between Europe's major cities. Of the 10 main air links from France to the rest of Europe, at least six could be made by night train (Paris-Madrid, Paris-Barcelona, Paris-Milan, Paris-Rome, Nice-London, Paris-Venice). Choosing a sleeper service over a high-speed TGV daytime equivalent can also save you money. The night train from Paris to Toulouse, for example, starts at nearly €30 cheaper than the TGV, and you don't need to pay for a night in a hotel. The report proposes two options for expansion with a deadline of 2035. The less ambitious goal is to reach a fleet of 340 sleeper cars, which would allow for the reopening of lines such as Paris-Barcelona or Nice-Strasbourg. This scenario would make it possible to transport 3.6 million passengers and save 400,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent, it says. The more ambitious proposal is to expand to 600 cars, which is the fleet size recommended by the Ministry of Transport's 2024 report on night trains. This would allow for the reopening of lines such as Paris-Venice or Bordeaux-Lyon, making it possible to transport 5.8 million passengers and save 800,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. By 2040, the report proposes an expansion to 1,200 cars, which would pave the way for international lines without going through Paris (e.g., Lyon-Rome, Nantes-Barcelona, Marseille-London). These would carry 12 million passengers and save 2 million tons of CO2 equivalent. 'The record ridership in 2024 demonstrates the French people's appetite for night trains,' Réseau Action Climat writes. 'Political will was there when it came to reversing the trend in 2020 and relaunching night lines. It is needed again today to change the scale.'
Local France
5 days ago
- Business
- Local France
French night trains break 1-million passenger barrier
'The lack of sleeping cars is preventing the creation of new national and international connections that could meet the high demand from passengers,' Réseau Action Climat said in a report published on Tuesday. But there's no denying the increasing popularity of overnight rail travel, just a decade after they all but disappeared from the timetables. Night trains in France carried one million passengers in 2024, the report found, a 26 percent jump on 2023, and more than double the number of passengers in 2019. This, the report says, is proof that night-trains can offer a viable travel solution, and one that is more environmentally friendly than flying or car use. Advertisement But the future of sleeper rail travel is hampered by the lack of trains, Réseau Action Climat – a federation of dozens of major environmental protection associations, including the World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth – warned. French rail operator SNCF currently has 129 sleeper cars, while international operators are also moving into the French market to offer overnight connections to cities including Vienna. However this is not enough to meet passenger demand, the report warned, with the Paris-Toulouse and Paris-Nice routes often overbooked. The government, which has authority over Intercités night services, launched a call for tenders in January 2025 for the purchase of 180 cars to be delivered before 2030. Réseau Action Climat recommends 'activating an optional clause in this call for tenders' to allow for the order of 340 cars in total. Réseau Action Climat goes further, and recommends a fleet of 600 sleeper cars by 2035 able to carry up to 5.7 million passengers annually. The 'network effect' would reduce the cost per passenger and improve the viability of overnight rail travel, which SNCF currently operates at a loss. According to the report, 'increasing the number of night trains in circulation allows for considerable economies of scale [with] shared maintenance, optimised connections, and better knowledge of the service by users...' Increasing the number of routes, as well as services will also improve take-up, the report said. Currently all night trains operating in France set off or arrive in Paris; there are no direct sleeper trains between Marseille-Nantes, Bordeaux-Lyon and Lille-Nice routes, the report notes, which encourages travellers 'to fly, or make costly connections'. It also recommends cross-border overnight services between Paris-Madrid, Paris-Barcelona, Paris-Milan, Paris-Rome, Nice-London, and Paris-Venice. Advertisement A Zurich-Barcelona route, via Lyon, which had been set to start in December 2024 by Austrian railways (ÖBB), has been postponed indefinitely. Private operator European Sleeper is reportedly considering a connection to Barcelona from Brussels, but no launch date has been set due to technical and administrative constraints. 'Over the past two years, one in six night trains [has been] cancelled due to night-time track work. On some routes, such as Paris-Briançon and Paris-Tarbes, this figure rises to one in three,' the report points out. This, it said, means passengers are opting for other modes of transport, taking replacement buses, or giving up their journey. To avoid undermining the appeal of night services, Réseau Action Climat suggests alternative routes, carrying out work on a single track, or even reducing the hours during which work is carried out to allow trains to pass.
