Slowdown in activity and stability in revenues

Turnover has risen 5% to €4.6 billion. This increase is the result of two developments: revenues generated by the network are falling, while those generated from the property business are on the rise.

For the first time since 2003, RFF’s sales and budgetary revenues have fallen significantly, with a €20 million decline compared to 2009.

Industrial charges rose 1.5% to €3.2 billion. Profitability objectives were not achieved, confirming the need for improved management of the network’s business performance.

What’s more, unlike in 2009, this shrinking of ROC has not been offset by an improvement in financial performance, as the average cost of debt, which totalled 4.25% in 2009, remained stable at 4.30%.

RFF’s financing

Net operating cash flow totalled €2.3 billion, down 3.2%, and remained insufficient for financing the renovation of the network once the cost of debt had been covered.

Despite the network’s financial imbalance and the continuation of an ambitious investment programme, RFF’s debt was down slightly to €27.4 billion, thanks to a favourable but non-recurring change in working capital requirements. In a persistently pronounced difficult economic climate, in 2010 RFF enjoyed uninterrupted access to short- and long-term financial resources under improved conditions, thanks to the lowering of interest rates and the tightening of credit margins. In total, RFF raised €3.3 billion on the international capital markets.

A new record of investment for supporting the modernisation of railway infrastructures

In line with its commitments, RFF nevertheless reached a new stage in its efforts to renovate the network in 2010 by devoting to the existing network 72% of the €3.2 billion invested across the network as a whole. As a result, the continuation of the network renovation plan and the rail plans offset the 12% fall in network development investments linked to the completion of construction work on the Haut-Bugey line (between Bourg-en-Bresse and Bellegarde) and the Rhine-Rhône LGV (high-speed railway).

In 2010, RFF’s investment efforts enabled the following key achievements:

Contributing to the construction of the Kehl bridge
Launchingwork on the Est Européenne LGV phase 2
Renewing 1,043 km of railway
Replacing 532 km of catenary wire
Implementing the first "control towers" for the centralised control of the railway network, in Lyon and Dijon.

Operating information 2010

One key event in 2010 was the introduction, at RFF’s initiative, of a new form of financing in the French railway sector: the public-private partnership.

The signatureof the GSM-Rail contract with the Vinci group.
The launch of the Sud Europe Atlantique public-private partnerships (between Tours and Bordeaux) with the Vinci Concessions group
The launchof the Bretagne - Pays de Loire public-private partnership (between Rennes and Le Mans) with the company Eiffage
The continued implementation of the contract on the Nîmes and Montpellier Bypass

2010 saw the introduction of the Railway Activities Regulatory Authority (ARAF), including initial decisions on ticket prices for the LGV Sud Europe Atlantique and, at the beginning of 2011, confirmation of the total amount of ticket revenues received by RFF.

The new Haut Bugey line that connects Paris with Geneva in nearly 3 hrs, instead of 3 hrs 20 previously, was launched at the end of 2010.

Network performances: RFF to launch a regularity monitoring unit

In 2010, the regularity of services declined, particularly during the strikes and bad weather in December. The proportion of infrastructure-linked failures was 12.7%. The causes are primarily the age of the railway network (8.6%) and "works slots" (3.2%) undertaken to renew the network with the aim of reducing disruption in the long term.

In order to better collectively target the efforts to undertake in order to make the network more reliable in terms of regularity, RFF is to launch a "regularity monitoring unit" in collaboration with the Department of Railway Circulation (DCF) and in consultation with all players from the railway sector.

The train is still the most trustworthy mode of transport in terms of safety. There were fewer than 70 deaths in 2010, with figures in decline over the last 10 years. RFF is continuing its efforts to improve safety at level crossings and step up awareness-raising actions aimed at drivers. As such, in 2010, 250 level crossings were removed or improved and the first International Level Crossing Awareness Day took place in June with the collaboration of more than 40 countries.

2011 prospects

Having been introduced for international passengers on 13 December 2009, efforts to open up to competition are expected to become effective by the end of the year. The Veolia – Trenitalia group has announced that it will be joining the French railway network by the end of 2011.

Construction work on the Rhine-Rhône LGV (between Dijon and Mulhouse), for which RFF is acting as the direct project owner, was completed at the beginning of 2011. The unveiling of the infrastructure is scheduled for September 2011 and the first commercial trains will run on the line from December 2011.
The integration of this new line into the national railway network means that timetables for 2012 need to be reorganised. As such, RFF and its partners are working together to achieve a more structured gradual introduction of railway traffic, the goal being to better anticipate traffic requests and offer passengers a more reliable and regular service.

RFF is continuing to implement public-private partnership contracts and new methods of financing for railway infrastructures.

The following are expected in 2011:
Signatures of public-private partnerships for the high-speed railway line between Tours and Bordeaux, and the LGV between Rennes and Le Mans
Launch of the public-private partnership on the Nîmes and Montpellier Bypass

RFF and the infrastructure division of SNCF, which is tasked with maintaining the railway infrastructure for RFF, are finalising the 2012-2015 contract, which establishes the principles of a new industrial and contractual partnership.

Hubert du Mesnil, Chairman and CEO of Réseau Ferré de France, said: "In a difficult context for the railway sector in 2010, RFF maintained its investment capacity for modernising the railway network. 2011 is a pivotal year in terms of quality of service and introducing new traffic timetables in December. RFF’s teams are fully mobilised to succeed in this challenge."