The "Yellow Vests" and SNCF

Rail is only mentioned tangentially within this New York Times article regarding "Yellow vests" protests now moving forth in France:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/20/worl ... ility.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fair Use:

..Among the hardest hit services were the regional railways, run by the French rail company, SNCF, which overwhelmingly invested in high-speed trains that served the big, prospering cities and is now $56 billion in debt. With service atrophying, people need their cars

It would appear that the SNCF is all for getting people swiftly and efficiently to Paris, but if elsewhere, it's a "Désolé Charlie".

Its all relative , I think. They still have way better train service than anywhere outside of Europe.
Its unfortunate that the fuel tax was the target, with the COP24 conference happening around the same time. Most French people accept something has to be done about carbon emissions. The private car is a major culprit. A carbon tax is necessary. Yet they say they agree with that , but its not fair to target rural drivers. They see it as just one more tax.
Perhaps , if Macron had given the concessions to rural and low paid workers in the first place, the protests wouldn't have happened. But I think the would have found something else to protest about somehow.

David Benton wrote:Its all relative , I think. They still have way better train service than anywhere outside of Europe.
Its unfortunate that the fuel tax was the target, with the COP24 conference happening around the same time. Most French people accept something has to be done about carbon emissions. The private car is a major culprit. A carbon tax is necessary. Yet they say they agree with that , but its not fair to target rural drivers. They see it as just one more tax.
Perhaps , if Macron had given the concessions to rural and low paid workers in the first place, the protests wouldn't have happened. But I think the would have found something else to protest about somehow.

But the rail system has been pruned so drastically that roads are the only link between many places. As one travels round France one can see everywhere the signs of the rail system that used to be there, but no longer functions. It's not quite as bad as the US, but it's not good. Between large cities there is a reasonable service, though not lavish. Between smaller places there is no rail service.

george matthews wrote: As one travels round France one can see everywhere the signs of the rail system that used to be there, but no longer functions..

To support Mr. Matthews point, hop a ride on the Googlemobile around "Le Gare Senlis".

Ever since the introduction of the TGVs the emphasis in France has been on speeding up services between Paris and the provinces. Their long-range planning has been focused on reducing radial transit times, to the extent of drawing concentric circles around Paris with the goal of bringing (for example) all places within the innermost circle within one hour of Paris, places within the next circle within two hours, etc., but if you want to get cross-country without going via Paris the service is much like what it's been for years. Admittedly, partly owing to the highly centralized system of government, travel in France is focused on the national capital to a far greater extent than is found in most other countries, and population density in France is much less than in surrounding countries, but it seems that anything not Paris-oriented has been neglected for decades, particularly in rural areas.