APPOINTMENT of Communist transport minister Jean-Claude Gayssot (p438) under a left-wing government elected on June 1 is likely to require some intellectual and political acrobatics in French transport policy. The previous right-wing government put Claude Martinand at the head of the infrastructure company Réseau Ferré de France, whose board was appointed on May 28 by outgoing transport minister Bernard Pons. Intriguingly, Martinand held a junior portfolio under the last Communist transport minister, Charles Fiterman, in the early 1980s, but he is now reporting to a Communist minister who opposed the establishment of RFF in the first place. Gayssot has indicated that he wishes to review the whole railway reform process, but SNCF President Louis Gallois has said that there can be no going back.
We have never felt that the last government’s reform of SNCF was one calculated to generate a more efficient and cost-effective railway, as it carefully avoided the labour-related issues that are at the root of many of SNCF’s financial woes. The prospect of lifting staff productivity and confronting emotive issues such as retirement at 55, or 50 for drivers, is now at best a distant hope. The unions have already called for a shorter working week and higher wages, so the idea of achieving a meaningful short-term improvement in SNCF’s finances is close to fantasy although the government does look likely to write off SNCF’s remaining debt. On the other hand, the Jospin government has appointed a ’green’ minister to manage land use and planning, giving good reason to believe that rail use will be encouraged.
Meanwhile, it looks certain that the route of TGV Est will be reviewed again, with support for a high speed line all the way from Paris to Strasbourg coming from Strasbourg mayor Catherine Trautmann, who is now Minister of Culture & Communication. Other new TGV lines could go ahead as part of a jobs creation programme. The government will also wish to put in place measures to ensure that malpractices such as the taking of commissions on TGV Nord contracts, uncovered at the end of May, cannot be repeated. Last month SNCF announced that it had set up an internal enquiry to ’detect possible malpractice or corruption’ by railway staff. o
