Orange with Media Services, published on Saturday June 27, 2020 at 08h51
The RER and metro traffic in Île-de-France could be stopped all summer for lack of money. The dialogue between the region and the state is very tense.
“The covid crisis was a kind of hurricane,” was moved by Valérie Pécresse, president of the region and Ile-de-France Mobilités.
She mentions “abysmal” losses and estimates 2.6 billion euros the hole in her budget for this year. The president of the Ile-de-France regional council claims 1.6 billion in commercial revenue lost to the state due to the drop in attendance, and 1 billion in mobility payments (a tax on the payroll of structures employing more than 11 people) who will not be perceived because of partial unemployment and the decline in economic activity.
“Without state support, we can no longer pay. We will no longer pay operators from July 8 for lack of cash, quite simply, “she threatened. To plug the hole if Bercy does not help him, it would be necessary sharply increase tariffs.
With an operating budget of around 10.5 billion euros per year, Ile-de-France represents a large half of the public transport sector in France. The Covid-19 bill for this year is estimated at around 4 billion euros for all of the “organizing authorities”, the local structures responsible for public transport on their territory.
The Minister for Ecological Transition Elisabeth Borne was reassuring, in a recent interview with AFP: “The presidents of organizing authorities know that we rely a lot on public and rail transport, and that obviously the exit from crisis and recovery will take them into account. It’s a question of timing. “
Battle of figures between Pécresse and Djebbari
But Valérie Pécresse lacks a little patience, especially since Ile-de-France Mobilités still plans 1.5 billion euros in losses in 2021 and 500 million in 2022. She is also worried about trains, trainsets metros and trams that the regional authority has ordered from French factories and for new lines under construction or planned.
The first response provided for the moment has come by an amendment slipped to the National Assembly which proposes € 425 million for Ile-de-France Mobilités. “It is a drop in the ocean of our losses. I am not here to let myself wander for the next six months, I ask for a massive support plan,” dryly reacted Valérie Pécresse.
“The state will be on the side (…) of the Ile-de-France region, as it is on the side of the other regions,” said Secretary of State for Transport Jean-Baptiste Djebbari. If he mentioned in front of the deputies “a deposit” to “respond to the emergency”, he disputes the sums put forward by Valérie Pécresse.
“It says 2.6 billion. But 2.6 billion is before the cost savings, before the VAT effect, the commercial gestures it made on behalf of the region. It is rather around 1 , 7 or 1.8 billion, the numbers we come to, “he said on Public Senate. “Transport will continue to run in Ile-de-France and I have no doubt that we will find an intelligent solution with Ms. Pécresse,” reassured Jean-Baptiste Djebbari.
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