In this issue the most important headlines are about the future of French Railways (SNCF). The new Macron government which cameto power in 2017 commissioned two reports on the future of the railways and has largely accepted their conclusions. However, one of the most fundamental problems the French have is never mentioned - the total obsession with the transport of people in the weekday peaks. The Spinetta report laments thatthe French rail networkis less well used than in most other countries in Europe, with an average of 46 trains a day per line, compared with 96 in the UK and of course more in the Netherlands, for example. Nowhere is it mentioned that this is mainly because, outside the Paris region, there are very few off-peak trains. I live in one of the most densely populated areas of France. The motorway from Douai to Lille is very congested and often hit by severe jams. Official figures show that traffic falls by 30% off-peak - that's still plenty of cars. On the parallel railway, there are five trains an hour in the period 07.00-08.00 butthere are none between 09.39and 11.22. From Amiens to Lille - the two main cities in the region, there are no trains 08.38-11.38, and none in the opposite direction 08.02-11.02 and 13.02-16.02.
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