France Shifts Priorities in Favour of Freight Trains: Daytime Track Repairs, Night Freight Runs Uninterrupted

France has shifted its priorities in favour of rail freight. Track repairs are being carried out during the day so that night freight services can run without delays. "It was a political gamble," admits the head of SNCF Réseau. Politicians, municipalities, and commuters are protesting.

SNCF Réseau, the French rail infrastructure manager, has taken a step in support of freight rail transport. Extensive planned maintenance will be carried out during the day to optimise conditions for freight trains, which run mainly at night. This will minimise complications and diversions for freight services.

Daytime Repairs Spark Conflict Over Train Priorities

In passenger rail, priority will remain for the morning and evening peaks. For example, renovation works currently underway on the heavily used Paris–Orléans–Limoges–Toulouse line are being carried out entirely during the day. The prioritisation of freight has prompted complaints from elected officials of local municipalities and MPs, who defend the interests of commuters:

"Passengers do not understand why freight transport should have priority over passenger transport," said Matthieu Chabanel, CEO of SNCF Réseau, at a recent conference of the French combined-transport association GNTC. "When I announced what we intended to do, no railway operator believed I could push this through politically."

SNCF Protects Freight on the Main Paris–Toulouse Axis

The new maintenance project—this year’s largest on the French network—has since become a topic of debate in national media. "In practice, I have demonstrated the credibility of my previous declarations of support for freight rail," Chabanel added.

SNCF Réseau justified its decision by noting that the Paris–Toulouse line is an integral part of the Atlantic freight corridor linking northern Europe with Spain in the TEN-T network. A large number of freight trains operate at night, following strict timetables harmonised in cross-border agreements. These trains cannot be shifted to daytime, as they transport just-in-time shipments such as automobiles, chemicals, industrial goods, and containers.

SNCF Balances Freight and Passenger Needs

Overall, the step represents a compromise between conflicting priorities. Maintenance works take place Monday to Friday from 9:30 to 17:30, offering an eight-hour work window (though nine hours would be ideal under work norms).

The goal of the extensive modernisation of the French rail network is to increase the volume of freight transport. Planning maintenance is, however, easier than the track reconstruction that SNCF Réseau intends to carry out in the coming years. Reconstruction will require closures and diversions, but SNCF Réseau promises a balanced approach, minimising impacts on both freight and passenger services.

SNCF Réseau manages 28,000 km of railway lines, 120,000 bridges and engineering structures, and 2,200 signalling installations. Unlike Switzerland, the Netherlands, or Germany—where networks are more interconnected—France’s network offers fewer alternative routes, complicating detours during closures.

Source: Le Figaro