Crazy SNCF fares and a musty site

[chatelot16]

Hello

blow of rage against the sncf and their incomprehensible tariff

when I was little everyone knew the price per km of the train: to know the price of a trip it was enough to know the distance between 2 cities ... except some exception of extra train

today we don't understand anything, it's the lottery price

if the sncf wanted to facilitate filling it would require a system where the cheaper hour is easy to choose, but their internet bazaar is so bad that it is difficult to find the cheapest ... and when you are not at home It's worse

I think it would be of great ecological interest to impose a clear price on the SNCF!

and even a price linked to the distance by the shortest route: when they close the direct line and they make you make the detour by tanpis bets for them! we pay the km of the direct way ... with this kind of calculation the small lines would become profitable! to avoid filling in the big lines with people who pay little

[Christophe]

I've been wanting to hang around for a long time.

a) the sncf site has always been moldy, it has changed N times, each time it's worse... the site does not have access to the same database as the counters which have much more choice. It makes no sense !

b) the prices: it has clearly become anything and I fear that it is the social excess of the company and the whims of the leaders that the consumer pays at the high price !!

Some examples: 35 hours applied to the letter, cronyism to spend budgets, social tariffs (an employee of the SNCF does not pay the train for life, an employee of total pays his fuel), early retirements, major works of the stations useless (strasbourg station redone 2 times in 10 years ...), design of TGV by major fashion designers, ditto for the architecture of the stations, coal premium, useless innovations (the Socrate system which cost a fortune and never well marketed) ... in short, lots of crap that cost customers fortunes ...

It is quite clear: economically beyond 600-800 km it is better to take the plane (with Air France please) than the train... as long as you order 1 month in advance ...

I experienced it while going to Corsica recently.

Train + ferry = 2 to 2.5 times the price of the plane (and on Air France not a low cost) ... who wants to piss off and prerdre 2.5 days of vacation by train at this price? Must be sado maso ... or employee of the sncf ...

SNCF has succeeded in making us prefer something other than the train ...

ps: the eco comparator launched in 2006 is a great greenwashing farce

cf https://www.econologie.info/index.php/?2 ... de-la-scnf

[dedeleco]

You have to spend half a day exploring the different lottery solutions, either months before (cheaper), or close to a few days before departure for off-peak periods poorly assessed by the SNCF, which they sell out, at least for journeys like Paris Marseille or Toulon by checking the direct route.
Paris Toulon is half the price of Kalsruhe or Strasbourg Toulon !!
If we take the indirect route, it is slower and more expensive !!
The SNCF seeks to place the most expensive before we find the cheapest !!
We even find the first class cheaper than the second on the same train !! This isolated place would stay on their arms if I had not taken it !!
However I find it a little better than a few years ago !!
IDTGV is cheaper but to be avoided on strike days not reimbursed !!

[Christophe]

I found a subject on the eco-comparator:

https://www.econologie.com/forums/ecocompara ... t2475.html

[sspid14]

I speak here for the sncb and probably in an non objective way since my father and my grandfather made their whole career there.

a) the sncf site has always been moldy, it has changed N times, each time it's worse... the site does not have access to the same database as the counters which have much more choice. It makes no sense !

The site of the sncb is I find well done and quite simple. The rates are easy to find. http://www.b-rail.be
In addition, it is possible to know the train delays, etc. via the site http://www.railtime.be which often happens.

b) the prices: it has clearly become anything and I fear that it is the social excess of the company and the whims of the leaders that the consumer pays at the high price !!

The price is not so high compared to other means of transport which always benefits from an inexpensive fuel (but more for a long time .. ouff ..). If more people took the train (or if more goods passed on the rails) the train would be cheaper since it is the infrastructure, the personnel, etc. which cost the most. These are fixed expenses which do not increase (or almost) with the number of travelers.

Some examples: 35 h applied to the letter

I agree, except that my father often had to replace missing staff, the sick or others, whether it be weekdays, weekends, holidays or during Christmas.

cronyism to spend budgets, social tariffs (an employee of the SNCF does not pay the train for life, an employee of total pays his fuel)

Indeed, he does not pay, his wife and dependent children are entitled to free "tickets" allowing days of train travel free of charge. Just as the total employee will have his company car that he will share with his family. Just like electrabel allows my neighbor (having a son at electrabel) to pay his bill 30% cheaper. And frankly, I do not know if the budget of the sncb increases much with the few retirees who take the train for free (if they had to pay, they might have taken the car or would not have been).

early retirement, major work on unnecessary stations (strasbourg station redone 2 times in 10 years ...), TGV design by major fashion designers, same for station architecture

It helps to keep a good image of the train, an innovative image that advances with the times (it brings travelers to cleaner and less unhealthy stations). I sometimes regret the lack of interest for some small station.

useless innovations (the Socrate system which cost a fortune and never worked well) ... in short, lots of crap that cost clients fortunes ...

You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs .. but that's what the state does all the time with our money

It is quite clear: economically beyond 600-800 km it is better to take the plane (with Air France please) than the train... as long as you order 1 month in advance ...

As long as it is possible it must be done (or not), tomorrow it will not be any more.

SNCF has succeeded in making us prefer something other than the train ...

I admit that some day, I want to take responsibility for the delay or the deletion of a train and put it on the rails with a large steel bar directed towards the sky (this week again I missed my appointment of morning, I had to go by car for the afternoon) ... but there is also a lot of advantage which I will not list here.

[chatelot16]

why we forbid a small trader to sell at the customer's head and that we force him to display prices clearly! it's good to prohibit scamming someone who can't haggle

for the sncf the principle is the same: whoever does not have the patience to seek is scammed

the law obliging to display precise tariffs should also apply to the snscf and to the telephone operators ... is to all kind of other specialist of abscon tariff ... bank for example

the laws are too complicated and too detailed ... when a principle is good it should be applied to everyone without exception for big business!

other remark, there is only one employee of the sncf who finds the site sncf well done ... the site sncf I use it to test the Internet connection and to verify the absence of too selective firewall: in many large company, the sncf website does not pass through the firewall, impossible to book a ticket!

the train should be a way to save energy, their internet bazaar is a big waste of communication!

[Christophe]

I speak here for the sncb and probably in an non objective way since my father and my grandfather made their whole career there.

Well, we are talking about the SNCF and not the SNCB. But as French living in Belgium, I know the 2 companies quite well so here is my opinion.

They have a very dissimilar management I find ... their main common point is their name!

Just enter a French station and a Belgian station of the same category to see that SNCF has a lot more money than SNCB.

The lack of an automatic emergency braking safety system on SNCB trains is another good example (moreover, in the political emergency, they are in the process of being fitted, but old dilapidated systems which will be obsolete from here a few years ... crazy !!)

Also, the almost systematic delays of SNCB trains (not 1 or 2 but 10 to 20 minutes for daily commuters is enormous) are simply unimaginable in France ... frankly I believe that the management of the SNCB has roughly modo 30 years behind the SNCF ... but do not forget that the SNCB must manage ... 2 "States and 2 languages" which no longer support each other!

By the way, in Flanders SNCB is called what?

I agree, except that my father often had to replace missing staff, the sick or others, whether it be weekdays, weekends, holidays or during Christmas.

Uh reassure me it's 38h at SNCB? As for replacements, it can be the case everywhere ...

Indeed, he does not pay, his wife and dependent children are entitled to free "tickets" allowing days of train travel free of charge.

Please note that it is true that the families of employees also have the right to preferential treatment ...

Just like the total employee will have his company car which he will pass on to his family.

Ah no, the Total worker does not have a company car!
It is from framework (engineer) that we have one ... and again it is not systematic!

Just like electrabel allows my neighbor (having a son at electrabel) to pay his bill 30% cheaper.

Oula if we enter this game there I will get angry!

Edf employees pay within 10% of the price invoiced to others. Electrabel is very tight on this one ... but Electrabel = GDF Suez = France. Never have your energy managed by a foreign company because it is far too strategic. Bad point for Belgium.

I do not tell you that 99% of EDF employees heat themselves to 24 ° C with electricity (story in addition, to touch the production premium)

In short, all this to say that the SNCF seems richer and better managed its employees and interests than the SNCB. This has a cost for the consumer.

New budget SNCF earns money, is this the case with SNCB?

[sspid14]

By the way, in Flanders SNCB is called what?

NMBS

Uh reassure me it's 38h at SNCB? As for replacements, it can be the case everywhere ...

Yes, but trains (except on strike) run 24 hours a day (and yes at night too) and 24 days a year. So it's not like a typical public servant.

New budget SNCF earns money, is this the case with SNCB?

http://www.lesoir.be/actualite/economie ... 760902.php

The SNCB transport subsidiary is expected to close 2009 with an operating loss of 244 million euros.

The deficit in passenger transport activity should amount to 101 million euros and, for the cargo, the hole should amount to a negative amount of 126 million euros, writes La Libre Belgique on Friday.

SNCB executives are currently finalizing the final figures which will be presented to the board of directors in April.

The loss was $ 17 million in 2007 and $ 132,7 million in 2008.

Unlike financial results, passenger numbers are on the rise. Last year, national traffic amounted to 207,6 million travelers compared to 206,8 million in 2008.

[Christophe]

NMBS? So there are 2 railway companies or is it the same and it's just the name that changes?

For the deficit, sorry, I spoke too quickly, the SNCF also loses (and again) money: http://www.lemonde.fr/la-crise-financie ... 01386.html

SNCF will be in the red in 2009, after having suffered for the first time in six years a semi-annual loss of some 500 million euros over the first six months of the year, announcement, Tuesday, September 29, its president, Guillaume Pepy , on Europe 1.

"For the year 2009, the SNCF will be in losses," said Mr. Pepy, without providing a more precise assessment. "We lost 500 million euros in the first half. We would have to make 500 million profit to be at zero." "We will not make 500 million profit. We are in September. We cannot yet give the figure for the year," he added.

SNCF, weighed down by the crisis, particularly in freight, announced at the end of August that it had recorded its first half-yearly net loss since 2003, at - 496 million euros.

While it only represents 6% of the group's turnover, freight contributed 65% to this loss, with a negative net profit of 323 million euros in the first half. SNCF forecasts losses of 600 million euros in 2009 for its freight, in chronic difficulty and subject to competition since 2006.

It announced last week that it would invest a billion in this activity, as part of a new freight plan implemented by 2015, without quantifying its consequences on employment. Unions fear 6 layoffs. This envelope is in addition to the 000 billion investments in rail freight by 7, announced last week by the government.

[sspid14]

National Society of Belgian Railways (SNCB)
Nationale Maatschappij der Belgische Spoorwegen (NMBS)

It's just the name that changes ... Like rood duivels and red devils (they play in a few minutes just in case ...)