The RATP’s new executive director, Jean Castex, promises to “do better” and, in particular, to restore the quality of service in a peaceful social climate, in an interview with Parisian to be published on Wednesday.
Taking office on Monday, Mr. Castex recalls his priorities, already presented during the hearings prior to his appointment in Parliament: “Punctuality, security, cleanliness, quality of information… These are for me the primary missions of the public transportation service. .
Although the Régie struggles to run its metros and buses correctly, affected in particular by the shortage of drivers and worrying absenteeism, restoring the situation is for Mr. Castex “a very big challenge”.
An effort on line B of the RER
Immediately, he will have to meet with the unions “this week”, and he reiterates that he wants to advance the annual salary negotiations starting in December. Regarding the pension reform that would directly affect RATP agents, the ball is in the government’s court. “But the company wants to be able to give its opinion and support the measures that are going to be taken. And I don’t know of a better way to do it than negotiation,” he points out.
In addition to an effort on line B of the RER, the most irregular of the Ile-de-France network, his priorities, he says, “are those of the users, that is, all the bus and metro lines that are affected by the problem of staff shortages and that you should see your quality of service improve in the coming months”.
The former prime minister also says he wants to pacify relations between the RATP and Ile-de-France Mobilités (IDFM), the organizing authority for public transport in the Paris region, and its president Valérie Pécresse.
He also offers, “with the reservations that (his) role requires”, his services to help Ms. Pécresse, in trouble with the government, to find ways out of budgetary difficulties caused in particular by the skyrocketing cost of energy , which could lead him to increase fees by 20% in 2023.
Source: BFM TV
