The government has declared unanswered the call for tenders for the competition of the Nantes-Lyon and Nantes-Bordeaux Intercity trains for which the SNCF was the only candidate, the Ministry of Transport said Thursday.
“In view of the economic difficulties encountered by the railway players following the health crisis and in the absence of a reliable prospect of resumption of traffic, the government notes that the conditions are not met, to date, to allow fair competition and fair, capable of guaranteeing the best service to the user at the best price, and has decided to declare the current call for tenders unanswered, ”the ministry explained.
“The State will examine the conditions for relaunching the competitive process, as soon as it has clear visibility on the outcome of the health crisis,” he said in a statement.
In an internal note, the SNCF indicates that the Ministry of Transport informed it of its decision without follow-up, in a letter on Wednesday, due to “insufficient competition”.
By announcing in January 2019 the competition between the Nantes-Lyon and Nantes-Bordeaux “territorial balance trains” (TET, more commonly known as Intercités), the Minister of Transport at the time, Elisabeth Borne, had nevertheless wanted to show The example. The goal was to have a new operator in 2022.
But the process was delayed and the coronavirus pandemic – which dried up the finances of the operators – led the potential rivals of the SNCF to prefer the opening to competition of the TER, citing according to the profession too many files. imprecise, insufficient guarantees from the State or future works on the tracks.
Interested for a time, Arriva (Deutsche Bahn group), EuroRail and Transdev decided not to present any offers, leaving the incumbent operator alone in the race.
SNCF CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou pleaded for the process to come to an end and for the State to discuss the public group’s offer.
“I do not see why we would be penalized because others did not show up,” he declared in early December to the Senate, recalling that the public transport operator Keolis, of which he was the boss before leading the SNCF , won the contract after finding himself alone in contention for the operation of the networks of Lyon and Orléans.
In its document Wednesday, SNCF Voyageurs “takes note” of the ministry’s decision and “regrets that the company and the agents involved in this project were not allowed to demonstrate the quality of the offer prepared for months, their expertise, and their ability to innovate in the service of travelers “.
SNCF will therefore keep for the moment the operation of the two lines, to which the government plans to “give a renewed boost” according to the conclusions of a study on the development of new TET lines which must be submitted to Parliament “and in line with the restructuring of certain domestic air links “.
The service will be intensified with, “by 2022”, four daily round trips between Nantes and Bordeaux (instead of three today) and three round trips between Nantes and Lyon (against two), according to the Ministry of Transport .
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