They don't give up. This Tuesday, about fifty SUD-Rail activists interrupted a symposium of transport users where the Minister Delegate for Transport, Clément Beaune, had just spoken, a few hours before a meeting where the fate of Fret SNCF, threatened by the European Commission, is to be discussed.

To the cry of "the SNCF is not for sale", the activists invested, and smoked, the hall of the Parisian building where the annual conference of the National Federation of Transport Users Associations (Fnaut) was held, noted an AFP journalist on the spot.

The minister tries to reassure the protesters

"We will have to discuss together decisions that are sometimes difficult (...). There will be no privatization, there will be public rail freight that will remain in France, we will develop it, I want to work with you to protect jobs, "assured the minister to the unionists, while the smoke triggered the alarms of the building.


"If you attack the freight #SNCF, we will become nasty!" exchanges between the #cheminots and the Minister of Transport Clément Beaune pic.twitter.com/civ4crwVcO

— HQ Free Media (@LibreQg) May 23, 2023

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"We will also announce additional investments and move forward on freight," he added. "We need freight and public freight in France, there is no doubt about that," insisted the minister. "We will not let SNCF freight down," said Fabien Villedieu, SUD-Rail union delegate, before the activists left the scene. This did not prevent the suspension of the colloquium.

Clément Beaune was to meet the management of the SNCF and the unions at 16 p.m., to discuss the fate of Fret SNCF whose existence is threatened by an investigation by the European Commission.

SNCF freight in danger

Brussels is interested in the support received by this subsidiary over the period 2007-2019, in particular the cancellation of the financial debt of Fret SNCF of 5.3 billion euros which was integrated into the debt of the holding company of the SNCF group in 2020.

The Commission could declare this aid illegal, which would lead to the bankruptcy of Fret SNCF. Another solution could lead to the creation of a new company but it would have a reduced size with a priori the abandonment of markets.



Fret SNCF, which employs 5,000 people, provides about 50% of rail freight transport in France, with other SNCF subsidiaries having an additional 20%. For a very long time loss-making, the company was profitable in 2021 and 2022.

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