This model has nevertheless to leap the unions

The SNCF, RFF and soon perhaps the ENCF... Fans of arcane acronyms could land a new player in the Organization of the rail system, at least according to the report of Hubert Haenel. Senator UMP upper Rhine had been appointed by Dominique Bussereau, Secretary of State for transport, in an attempt to clarify the responsibilities between Réseau Ferré de France (RFF) the owner of the network and the SNCF who is delegated the management of the network. Granting of the grooves, organization of work, choice of investment: opportunities of conflict not lacking between the two enemy brothers of the rail system. It is there that has ENCF or the operation of the national rail network which would be entrusted with the care to manage, independently, the allocation of train paths between the SNCF and private operators. In reaching this conclusion, Hubert Haenel share a simple observation: with the reform of 1997 that gave birth to the couple RFF-SNCF, the country "not to is not given the means to have an efficient rail system", the law creating "conditions for a structural opposition between RFF and SNCF. Examples abound. In the field of the maintenance of the network, this has led to "the work poorly planned, often poorly organized and very costly in the end."

To break this deadlock, the Senator advocates including to relax the rules of delegation between RFF and SNCF. Another problem, the current organization led to "confusion" with respect to the allocation of railway heritage, with consequences for the improvement of the stations. The report proposes to create a "Committee" which would encompass all stakeholders (SNCF, private operators, RFF, client organizers as the State or regional authorities) and deal management to main stations.

It is nevertheless for the operation of the network (design and distribution of the grooves between the various operators, and proper functioning of the movement of trains) that the Senator is the most critical. Very complex current procedures between RFF and SNCF lead to that the network "is be underused to the tune of 15 or 20 ". "This makes it also difficult reachable the objective of transparency", he added. Hence the three scenarios that it proposes to the Government. In the first, the 14.400 railwaymen of SNCF dealing operations are transferred to RFF. "You can imagine the cries" and tensions, said the parliamentary. Second hypothesis, these 14.400 people remain to the SNCF, but are grouped in an ENCF. The idea has a taste of unfinished for Hubert Haenel, militating for a third scenario where the ENCF remains property of the SNCF, but became an independent subsidiary and has a status of anonymous society. "The model, it is RTE in the field of energy," he says.

This model has, nevertheless, to leap the unions. If the transferred Railroaders kept their status, the hired future the would nevertheless be in private status. "The current system must be reformed, but we cannot admit a Balkanization of the SNCF, with the passage of railwaymen 14,000 in a subsidiary." "It is a casus belli," warns Didier the rest, Secretary General of the CGT railwaymen. In 2001, SNCF had indeed to abandon after a hard social movement, the idea of group operation skills in one activity.

Another problem, this recommendation leads a bit more naked RFF. In the energy field, RTE, the supposed equivalent of ENCF, is the owner of the network. Not in the Haenel scenario, where we are left with, on the one hand, the operator ENCF and, on the other, RFF, an owner in ballast to 28 billion euros in debt. Aware of the problem, Senator reflects on the creation of a public institution "France infrastructure" which would be grouped railway network, airports, ports and related debt. "Anyway, the rail system must be reformed, without which the France is a procedure by Brussels", warns Hubert Haenel. Dominique Bussereau, he decided to "put this report in the study.