As things stand, most TGV lines don't turn a profit but are made feasible by subsidies, paid by a state that clearly sees the economic advantages of an extensive high-speed network.
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SNCF operates almost all of France's railway traffic, including the TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse, meaning high-speed train). In the 1970s, the SNCF began the TGV high-speed train program with the intention of creating the world's fastest railway network.
It reported pre-tax profits for the first half of the year of €52 million, a reversal of the losses of €127 million it reported in the first six months of 2021. Last year losses totalled €237 million on top of a €119 million deficit in 2020.
TGV is SNCF's high-speed rail service. Carrying passengers across France on trains exceeding 300kmh, TGV train has become one of the most popular modes of transport for travelling around the country.
This involved a reduction of $35 billion in the company's debt. The public authorities completed this debt repayment process in 2022 – the debt now stands at €24.4 billion, compared to €60.2 billion in 2019 – by taking over the last scheduled €10 billion.
Strong cash generation has enabled Eurostar Group to repay €127m of debt and at the end of December 2022, total debt stood at €964m. We have turned the page on the COVID crisis and are now moving towards a new chapter of building the new Eurostar Group, bringing Eurostar and Thalys together”, says Gwendoline Cazenave.
Financing Eurotunnel. Eurotunnel is the largest privately- financed infrastructure in history by a long way. In what it has achieved it has been a stunning success—in its current financial situation it is obviously also a failure at this stage if measured by return on investment.
The group has debts of more than £6 billion and media reports suggest directors are keen on offering a debt-for-equity swap for as much as £2bn of the debt, UK national newspapers reported this week.
Eurotunnel is now highly profitable, after a difficult start when it was held down by massive debts from the tunnel construction. Debt restructuring in 2007 reversed the company's fortunes — at the expense of thousands of small shareholders who saw their holdings slashed in value.
SNCF is the only company offering national rail transportation because it enjoys a legal monopoly. There are two types of trains: HS trains (TGV) and “normal speed” trains (Intercités or IC). TGV can use both HS and normal tracks, when IC can only use normal tracks.