Usually when one laughs the other crying

Usually, when one laughs, the other crying. The two enemy brothers of the rail, SNCF and RFF, have acquired the habit of each draw in turn benefit from the misfortunes of the other. But two public groups currently joined to the finding of the fragility of their respective economic models, signs of a crisis in the whole of the French railway system. While the SNCF is to revise its strategy ("Les Echos" from June 28), RFF wondered, him, the precarious balance of its finances. Hubert du Mesnil, President of the Manager of the rail network, to worry now openly in small Committee: "the system derives structurally", he explained in May before the members of the Finance Committee, according to the record including "Les echos" were provided with copies. If that contract performance of the company - unveiled only a year and a half - appears already in danger, leaving augurer of a new drift of the deaf-mute (approximately 28 billion euros) debt.

This alarmist observation stands. End of April, RFF indeed published a net result of EUR 304 million for 2009, the first real economic benefit since its inception in 1997.

Stagnation of income

The problem is not there. As the leader, "is not the situation that can question our trajectory, but the evolution of our costs and revenues." From this point of view, nothing does. This may seem surprising for the revenue component, constituted by the fees paid by the railway companies (EUR 3 billion) and public subsidies (2.3 billion). Since last year, the network manager has a particularly favourable Government arbitration, allowing a sharp increase in tolls. The invoice of the only TGV could add $ 900 million over five years for the SNCF.

Problem: the State requested a greater financial effort to SNCF, he reviewed his own downward. A trend that will reverse the Government communication. Grenelle of the environment obliges, the public authorities argue for months their attachment to the rail. At the signing of the contract of performance end of 2008, the three present Ministers also had the unfortunate tendency to make the confusion between 13 billion that RFF invested over five years and that the State provided. The reality is different. "These past three or four years, we lost about 300 million of public funding, equivalent to 10 of the amount of tolls", reveals Hubert du Mesnil.

At the time, revenues stagnate, while costs go wrong. For the maintenance of the rail network, the latter "increase constantly, 3 to 4 per year, or more than the MGB indexing more than inflation." Negotiations are currently underway with SNCF - which provides for the maintenance of the network RFF account - to reduce the invoice. So far, Hubert du Mesnil casts not completely stone to the railway company. A member who asks him why he is not himself the maintenance of the network, he responds: "because I am convinced that if we now had the responsibility of the 50,000 people responsible for this task, we would be better than the SNCF."

Therefore, the objective - already far-d-' stabilization of debt on the horizon of 2022-2023 is questioned, as the leader agrees. "If this economic balance is no longer possible ..., we will be forced to depreciate the value of our assets, with 10 billion euros of losses as a result", provides Hubert du Mesnil, which prevents: "the system risk of collapse" If this trajectory continues. In which case "the RFF company will not and the State not much better." In this context, Brussels would indeed have to ask the requalification of RFF debt into public debt.