An event interview. On the occasion of the start of the new school year, Emmanuel Macron agreed to address the youngest by granting an interview to Hugo Décrypte, on Youtube. Monday, September 4, 2023, the President of the Republic thus discussed many subjects, including that of transport. Last March, Germany has launched a monthly pass at 49 euros to travel on the entire local public transport network, except on express and long-distance trains. While this one is a success and already has 7 million members, could the same principle see the light of day in France? “I asked the Minister of Transport to launch, with all the regions which are ready to do so, the same device. The reality with us is that it is the regions which set the price of their tickets. All the regions that are ready to do it with the State, banco, here we go!“he declared before specifying that the Minister of Transport and the Prime Minister “wore this idea.”
Emmanuel Macron: “If there was only one actor, he would be as expensive as the train ticket”
During this interview, the journalist and videographer clarified that “on some destinations, the train is more expensive than the plane” and reminded that kerosene was not taxed. “France is one of the countries that tax its aviation the most!”, then dropped the President of the Republic. If train tickets are often more expensive than plane tickets, Emmanuel Macron has an explanation. “The plane ticket, if there was only one actor, it would be as expensive as the train ticket. What happened is that we had very different economies for years, thatwe have low-cost players who have come to cut prices in the aviation system on certain tickets… And that on the rail transport side, there was no reform and no opening”he explained, before slipping: “There, there is a small railway revolution taking place.” After recalling the 2018 reform, Emmanuel Macron added: “I hear all the people who say ‘we have to go to the rail’, it’s also a lot of people who have never had the courage to change the system. But the rail system, why was it expensive? Because we did not reform, because we had a pension system which, objectively, was no longer sustainable and because we had a system which was not efficient. Finally, this one slipped out: “We cannot say on the one hand ‘I defend an inefficient system, but I am for ecology’, no. So I’m consistent.”
>>> Click here to discover the interview with Emmanuel Macron