rates

Railway undertakings pay us fees for all their traffic.(historic operator SNCF and any new rail company operating on the network) Candidates who are authorised to order train paths from Réseau Ferré de France (loaders, autonomous ports, transport organization authorities) will also pay the related fees .

This rate system is governed by European and French regulations, in particular the 1997 law that created Réseau Ferré de France.

For all services, unit prices are defined for each annual timetable, which begins the day after the second Saturday in December.

The fee table includes a table for minimum services and a ancillary and additional service and equipment access table.

 

The fee table for minimum services is established by an interministerial decree, upon Réseau Ferré de France’s proposal.

For details on minimum services, see :
Train paths and related services

These fees are broken down into three different duties:

access charge (DA),
reservation charge, broken down into a train path reservation charge (DRS) and a station stop reservation duty (DRAG),
the running charge (DC).

The first two terms are based on reservations and represent approximately three-quarters of fees.

They are based on the segmentation of the infrastructure into 1,200 elementary sections grouped together by rate category depending on the type of line (high-speed lines, peri-urban lines, inter-urban lines and others) and the time of day. Under this system, Réseau Ferré de France charges higher prices in areas and during periods with more traffic.

The third term is related to actual train running. Every train path reservation does not necessarily result in train running. Labour movements, unexpected events, or failure to obtain freight markets are the main reasons behind this.

Based on the report by the General Inspection of Finance – General Council of Bridge and Roads (IGF-CGPC) published in July 2007, a price reform of minimum services has been implemented from the 2010 timetable onwards.

The procedures implemented by the State will cover:
Variable operating charges in the form of traffic fees
All or part of capital charges in the form of reservation fees
Fixed charges in the form of access fees for regional passenger trains (TER and Transilien)

Three types of fees can be distinguished:
Reservation fees are calculated based on the reserved kilometers, according to the type of line and the time of crossing. This fee can be adjusted according to the number of seats offered and the high speed passenger train’s origin and destination, as well as the speed and length of the freight train path.
Traffic fees are calculated based on kilometers covered according to the type of train and the type of line.

Access fees are fixed amounts which only apply to regional passenger trains (TER and Transilien).
 

Réseau Ferré de France offers other services, such as access to equipment and ancillary service provision, which are subject to specific fees. The Réseau Ferré de France board of directors has sole responsibility for drawing up a table for these services.

For information on the other services offered by Réseau Ferré de France:
Railway equipment
 

The fees we receive are used to:

finance expenditures, in particular network maintenance, renewal and management,
encourage optimum use of the available circulation capacity through a relevant economic signal,
enable transparent, non-discriminatory access to the network.

Réseau Ferré de France covers a little less than half of its total expenses through these infrastructure fees and is moving progressively towards better cost coverage. Successive developments have included the extension of high-speed lines, traffic developments, and price updates.