The French government has unveiled a €4.7 billion ($5.5 billion) state support package for the rail sector to compensate for rail revenue losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The funding is part of the Plan France Relance, which includes a €4.1 billion ($4.8 billion) capital injection inSociété Nationale SNCF SA, the holding company of SNCF Group, according to S&P Global Ratings.
In light of travel restrictions imposed by the pandemic, rail travel is not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels until 2023 or later in some European countries, according to a new report published by S&P Global Ratings. Between March and May, passenger traffic declined by more than 90 percent in European countries such as Italy, France, and the United Kingdom, and has only recovered partly since travel restrictions were eased.
“We have updated our recovery scenario to a 45 percent–60 percent decline in passenger traffic in 2020, down from our previous forecas
