Groupe Chronos

Train and Metro: Rider-regulators

SNCF president Guillaume Pepy explained to France Inter that the economic crisis has led to dramatic increases in ridership and the "system is becoming saturated." Beyond speeding up the arrival of new materials (trains), Guillaume Pepy requests riders' help. Respect for the SNCF - a public service - is needed in order to make traffic more fluid. The same is true for the RATP whose latest campaign (film, paintings, posters) aims to express the importance of the riders role in the regularity of traffic flow. Subway trains were covered with stickers that suggest improved behavior such as "The warning tone rings, I move away from the doors" or "1 second lost at the station = delays along the entire line."

On another more sensitive note, the SNCF is transparent on the taboo subject of suicide. On Transilien, there is on average of one suicide every two days, 181 suicides in 2008 in Ile de France (195 for the RATP). Jean-Pierre Farandou, in charge of regional transportation, sited an example in Canada when interviewed by the Parisien, where the subway succeeded in reducing the suicide rate by education and prevention activities. After years of hearing the euphemism "traveler accidents," the word "suicide" undeniably provokes unease among riders. Could this be the price travelers need to pay to understand the complexity of the SNCF's role ?

Read the full article in French.