On 28 March 2013, Réseau Ferré de France’s Board of Directors, chaired by Jacques Rapoport, closed the company’s accounts for the 2012 fiscal year.

Réseau de Ferré de France’s turnover for the 2012 fiscal year comes to EUR 5,556 million, up 4% on a like-for-like basis (EUR 4,981 million in 2011). The company’s current operating result is EUR 1,416 million, down slightly from the 2011 fiscal year despite the consistently strong turnover, due to an increase in maintenance and upgrade work. At EUR 2 million, the net result for the 2012 fiscal year sees RFF more or less break even.

Increase in rail activity

• Passenger activity: regional rail traffic is stable. High speed rail traffic is up 3.5% due to the entry into service of the Rhine-Rhône high speed line in December 2011.

• Freight activity: rail freight traffic has also risen with around 76 million train-km in 2012.

2012 saw an increase in the quality of train paths thanks to:

• Better integration of engineering works into the planning of train schedules
• Improved management of “secured” i.e. definite train paths
• A reduction in the number of “non-secured” train paths (allocated temporarily)

Growing investment in infrastructure projects

Investment in infrastructure projects comes to EUR 5,375 million, compared to 4,536 million in 2011 – an increase of 18%. In 2012, Réseau Ferré de France continued to invest in the upgrading of the rail network. The increase in upgrade work on the existing network amounts to EUR 2,172 million (up by nearly 10%). Over 1000 km of lines were thus upgraded in 2012.

In addition, RFF has invested in growing the network. The significant outcome of this investment is the start of construction work to build four high speed lines: phase 2 of the TGV-Est high speed line, the Tours - Bordeaux and Le Mans - Rennes HSLs, and the Nîmes/ Montpellier bypass. 800 km of high speed lines will thus enter service in 2016 and 2017.

RFF, a name trusted by investors

Due to a sharp growth in its investment – significantly higher than its cash flow – RFF’s debt is increasing, amounting to EUR 31.5 billion at the end of 2012 (28.6 billion at the end of 2011). Thanks to its good name and investor confidence, RFF has continued to benefit from continued access, on good terms, to long-term financial resources on the international capital markets. In 2012, RFF raised € 3.8 billion through 23 bond issues, with an average maturity of over 23 years.

(Source: RFF)