In the face of the decline in transportation of public transport, the regional authority has adopted the SNCF and the RATP and “insufficient” the aid decided by the Government, which still needs to be approved by the parliamentarians.
Le Monde with AFP
Ile-de-France Mobilies (IDFM) announced, Monday, October 11, have obtained from the Government the payment of financial assistance of nearly 1.1 billion euros for the year 2021, its income for Enhancing public transport from the region has decreased significantly since the beginning of the CVIV-19 epidemic.
The Department of Transport immediately pointed out that this assistance – including € 274 million in cash – would be refundable, and does not constitute a grant. It must still be endorsed by Parliament.
“After several months of negotiation, the Prime Minister agreed that the State grants Ile-de-France Mobilis aid,” IDFM announced Monday in a statement. The discussions on this subject are the subject of a balance of power between Valérie Pécresse, president of IDFM and the Ile-de-France Regional Council, and the Executive since 2020. For last year’s losses , IDFM had obtained 1,16 billion euros in repayable advance and 151 million grants.
SNCF and RATP were no longer paid
Valérie Pécresse demanded direct subsidies this year, not refundable advances. “We have always been very clear that this Covid crisis could not be paid by users and that it should not endanger the investments necessary for the regeneration of the network and the renewal of the rolling stock,” explained to The France-Presse agency, at the end of September his right arm, Gregory of Lasteyrie.
“The refund methods [of this advance] will be studied with the State in order not to start the financial sustainability of the short and long-term IDFM,” said Monday night the entourage of M ME Pécresse. The sum is in any case significantly lower than 1.3 billion euros asked for M me pecresse, but it will allow IDFM to resume its RATP payments and SNCF.
The Regional Transport Authority had indeed suspended its payments to the two public groups, lack of money according to its leaders – but also to put pressure on the government. IDFM had already stopped paying both companies for two months, in the summer of 2020, for the same reasons. But the RATP and the SNCF have not ceased to roll their trains, RER, metros, trams and buses, neither last year nor this year.
Disagreements on the amount of losses
The lack of winning in the IDFM finances comes from the decline in the mobility payment efficiency – payroll tax of companies with more than 11 employees, which represents more than 50% of IDFM resources – and Recipes from travelers – The ticket office accounts for about 30% of resources. The State and IDFM do not agree on the amount of these losses: if the department believes that the mobility payment has found this year its level of the crisis this year, the team of M me Pécresse notes a loss of 300 million euros.
The aid granted by the Government this year is judged “very insufficient in relation to the needs of the network” and “leaves the finances of Ile-de-France Mobilities in high tension”, according to the communiqué published Monday after the Council IDFM administration. “In these conditions, Ile-de-France Mobilies will be forced to return to the state in 2022”, a year for which it currently anticipates a loss of 730 million euros compared to the forecasts established before the crisis, already warns the Regional institution.
IDFM anticipates that the mobility payment will not regain its preliminary level in 2024, and then that it will then bring less than expected. Same for ticket sales, the effect of teleworking is long-term estimated at 5% of tariff revenue. “Thanks to this new support, the state shows that it is again at the rendezvous to support the colossal investments launched on the public transport network in France”, commented on the Minister of Transport, Jean-Baptiste Djebari , cited in a statement.