France to help railway firm SNCF with several billion euros - Le Figaro

France will help state-owned railway company SNCF survive the coronavirus crisis by providing several billion euros, Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari told daily Le Figaro on Thursday. The government would help the company through a capital hike or an additional debt buy-back, Djebbari also said.

France will help state-owned railway company SNCF survive the coronavirus crisis by providing several billion euros, Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari told daily Le Figaro on Thursday.

The government would help the company through a capital hike or an additional debt buy-back, Djebbari also said. "SNCF has no cashflow problem. However, the state will help it by several billion euros," Djebbari said.

Djebbari also said the government would expect in return a "high-level of economic, environmental and social performance" from SNCF. Separately, Djebbari told France Info radio that the state also planned to boost rail freight in the country.

"Rail makes 9% of goods transport, we want to double that to 18% by 2030," he said.