Adrien Aumont — A good story isn’t a good story without a little flashback or two. Without flashbacks, we can’t show what makes this whole adventure so difficult. I mean the absolute absence of support from French and European institutions in our attempts to access rolling stock.
So, a little flashback then. It’s April 2020, we haven’t yet communicated publicly about Midnight Trains and we’re making ourselves known to the cabinet of the French Ministry of Transport. At the time, it was Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, known for his communication very focused on the train, who was in charge. Moreover, very quickly, we were warmly received by one of his advisors. Friendly, very knowledgeable on his subject, he listens to our presentation. He observes our deployment map spread out on the desk and is delighted: our night train lines aren’t in competition with those the minister plans to launch. Better yet, they complement one another. Only the train from France to Barcelona could be a problem, but he brushes the subject aside. If we take care of it, they will remove it from their project. He then asks us if he can help us with anything. We talk about all the barriers to entry we face, starting with our need for solid guarantees to buy trains. He tells us that his teams will look for solutions. Finally, and above all, he suggests that the minister posts a Tweet when we announce the launch of the project. It's not urgent, but it's a good start. In addition to visibility, it implies that the Minister of Transport and his teams are on our side.
This feeling, however, doesn’t last long. Less than three days. This meeting took place on a Thursday afternoon, and Jean-Baptiste Djebbari tweeted the following Sunday. He posts the network map of night trains which includes his and ours. Without mentioning us. As if these lines had been designed by the French government and it intended to deploy them under its own flag. It’s a small hole in the contract of trust. However, another boost comes three months later. In June 2021, the minister did indeed keep to his promise. He tweets about our launch. And it does him a lot of good - the message generated more than 4000 likes, over 1100 retweets and 528 comments. I couldn't say for sure, but it's probably one of his best performing posts. Then, almost radio silence until the 2022 presidential election and Emmanuel Macron’s re-election. And when he appoints Clément Beaune to the Ministry of Transport, we have to start from scratch. The railway isn’t immune to the twists and turns of politics. Even when it’s on a road to renewal itself.
Nicolas Bargelès — Our next interaction with the French government takes place in June 2022 when we respond to a call for expressions of interest (AMI) on international night trains in Europe launched during Jean-Baptiste Djebbari’s tenure. To put it simply, and to quote those who know, it’s an “ad hoc procedure not provided for by the public procurement code, allowing a public person to solicit a private initiative to promote the emergence of projects in which it’s interested, without the need being perfectly expressed.” In short, this is the stage before the call for tenders through which the government surveys the actors ready to take action on the subject.
Obviously, we check all the boxes and quickly receive a response. The teams from the General Directorate of Infrastructure, Transport and Mobility (DGITM) ask us a lot of questions to complete our file. Like the tons of carbon Midnight Trains would save. Information that we can only provide by using consulting firms as it’s precise and complex. But above all, questions to which our interviewers should already have the answers.
Are we disclosing information that will be used by SNCF, rather than us? We can't be sure, but the question crosses our minds. Especially since the calendar starts to empty out after the summer of 2022. The responses are slower, and more focused on microscopic details. To fit everything neatly into boxes, we replace our requests for guarantees with requests for start-up assistance. All these kinds of things. We come to understand that we’re on the right track, and that it will happen at one point or another.
Adrien Aumont — Then, in December 2022, the axe begins to fall, with uncertain messages from this type of institution. Here’s one that shows the art of saying no, without saying no, but without saying yes: “There is no firm timetable for the AMI”. Then, after a final relaunch from us in February 2023, our interviewers say they are looking for a solution to help us with the Public Investment Bank (BPI). Rather than letting it wither in almost total silence, there’s an exchange approximately every six months. But that’s not a great way to know us.
