France is the second-largest country in Europe that has a large train network. This nation has almost 29,000 kilometres of tracks. With these tracks, it is easy to travel between big cities. For example, to cover the distance from Paris to Bordeaux (580 kilometres), a high-speed TVG train is available. But many people across the nation face problems, especially those who belong to smaller towns such as Val d’Orsay. To get to Nice (150 kilometres away), someone has to drive to Embrun and then take three different trains, which takes about eight hours.
The biggest complexity is that bigger cities are well-connected and smaller areas are not. People living in smaller areas use cars instead of trains because trains are not accessible. There is a French website that has tools to express how easy it is to reach train stations in different areas. The name of this website is Ville de Reve. About 55% of people live within a 30-minute drive of a TGV station, but many others still struggle to get to one.
France also has some parts that face the complexities of reaching train stations. Some places take more than one hour and forty minutes to reach a train station. It includes the southern Massif Central, Yonne, and the southern Alps.
In Coeur de Lozere, a small area in Lozère, people have to drive more than two hours to reach the nearest station.
Many rural areas are located near the regional train station (TER). But some places in France have taken longer driving times to these stations. Central Brittany, Orne in Normandy, and areas around Toulouse are at the top of the list on it.
This highlights that areas that don’t contain large populations have less access to public transport. These places require better train connections to make their lives easier. Trains also avoid feeling isolated and give them the same services as those in bigger towns. Improving transport in these places would make life easier for people living there.
A study from France’s INSEE shows that people are more than twice as likely to drive to work if they don’t have public transport nearby. In France, 80% of rural people enjoy their trips through private transport and only 3.3% use public transport. However, people prefer to drive over shelter buses. This is because driving is the fastest and easiest way to reach the destination on time.
Furthermore, a 2019 study by AQST revealed that driving in rural areas of France is five times faster as compared to public transport, especially when going on short trips. France has bad rural public transport when compared to other European nations such as Germany and Spain. In France, rural buses stop only 2-3 times a day, while in Spain it’s 10 times and in Germany it’s 12 times.
A journey under 50 km using public transport in rural France takes more than three hours, much longer than in Spain or Germany. This shows how slow and inconvenient public transport is in rural France, making people rely on cars more.
France is making efforts to improve transport in rural areas. For this purpose, he is testing the electric “Draisy” train. Its size is approximately equal to a bus that carries 80 people. If this succeeds, then 2028, transport in rural areas will be improved in 2028. In this strategy, old local train tracks are used. These tracks were once important to the countryside.
Free had small train lines that connected various rural areas in the early 1900s. But with time, the car became popular in both money and time-saving ways. For this reason, these lines were closed. It led to fewer train services for small towns. Today, around 3,500 kilometres of these tracks still exist, but they are mostly unused or used for freight trains.
It would be too expensive to update these tracks for bigger trains, as they are not electrified. However, the smaller, battery-powered Draisy could be a cost-effective solution. If the tests go well, it might be a smart way to bring back better transportation to rural areas.
