Adrien Aumont — First of all, it’s important to remember why we’re approaching the political and institutional sphere: the main obstacle in our way is our need for guarantees to buy, or even to rent, rolling stock. That is to say, being able to demonstrate our ability to cope with the financial burden represented by a purchase or rental. A ROSCO (a company that buys trains to rent them to companies like ours) requires, for example, a parent company guarantee - which is impossible to provide when you’re a start-up - or months of rent paid advance. This is a substantial sum that investors are in no hurry to fork out for. Perhaps understandably, as this money is not an investment as such. It’s taken off the table and gradually replenished, but doesn’t provide a return on investment. We’re obviously not the only ones to be confronted with this truth. Other new entrants, sometimes even historic operators, also struggle with it. Except that the latter's train purchases are often guaranteed implicitly - sometimes even explicitly - by the countries they come from. This is also the case in France. And we can imagine that after the success of the first Midnight Trains line, we’d also have access to real guarantees. But in the meantime, we need to find seed solutions.
After these few details, let’s be clear: we haven’t let our relationship with the French Ministry of Transport die. Like an obsessed lover who showers their sweet one with gifts and kind messages, we’ve been getting creative to keep the flame alive. Then, like marriage counsellors and obstetricians, we tried everything to ensure that this relationship lasted long enough to give birth to a beautiful baby: not a little boy or girl, but a good guarantee, insurance, banking or debt recovery. And support in the event of bankruptcy. We’re not picky, we’ll take what we can get.
But we do what entrepreneurs do. We pulled all the strings to secure a meeting with Clément Beaune, the new Minister of Transport. We’d obviously been put in touch with his teams by those of his predecessor, but never received a response. So we asked one of our acquaintances, one of his political party friends, to give us his direct email contact. She did and I wrote to the minister, recommending her. No response. A second message. Still nothing. No matter - these things happen. Then we asked two major deputies we know, a man and a woman, to contact the ministry to help us obtain an appointment. No response. We hear that the minister is going to take charge of the file but, in fact, we’re never contacted with a response.
As you have probably gathered from these newsletters, we’re not the type to just give up, so we go through a former secretary general of the Élysée, known to be a kingmaker. He writes to the minister and his teams, always with the same goal. Silence. So does the former boss of Medef, the French employers' union, and the same happens. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. For lack of anything better, we sink even further into informal relationships by going through one of his close friends. Again, nothing happens. We don't get even the slightest response. Not even: “The minister is not available”, “The minister does not believe in your project” or even “The minister doesn’t care”.
Nicolas Bargelès — This attitude is surprising as it contrasts with the Minister of Transport for Belgium. During this great quest for a date with Clément Beaune, in March 2023 we get an email from his counterpart from Belgium: Georges Gilkinet. He invites us to Brussels, to his ministry. He’s particularly interested in night trains, for which he’s just had toll fees removed when they cross Belgium. As a reminder, in France, they’re €8 euros per kilometre. Of course, Belgium is a small country, which can be crossed quickly. Of course, it’s not a guarantee for rolling stock. But this demonstrates a desire to support this way of travelling, to encourage it to strengthen and expand.
We’re received by Minister Gilkinet in his office. He’s charming, a convinced environmentalist, who’s passionate about night trains. He explains to us that he’s very interested in Midnight Trains, that he likes the project and that he’d like us to be able to roll out Midnight Trains on Belgian territory one day. His government and he also have needs which more or less correspond to the lines that we plan to deploy in the medium to long term: three lines towards Germany and Austria, and two others towards Southern Europe. We’re very direct. If they can help us find the guarantees we need, we’re ready to relocate to Jacques Brel’s homeland within the hour and work on the lines they need. Our interlocutor can’t do it himself, he’s already emptied his pockets for this famous toll tax exemption. But he scheduled meetings for us that very afternoon with banks in Brussels. Just like that, to help. And to see if a solution can be found somewhere. In short, France-Belgium: two rooms, two atmospheres. Two very different attitudes and desires regarding aid to new entrants and decarbonising transport.
Romain Payet — Unfortunately, these meetings yield nothing. These are commercial banks without a dedicated guarantee product. Like so many other financiers before them, these bankers don’t like the idea of letting so much money lie dormant to guarantee our future reinvented night trains. In short, Midnight Trains will not become Belgian and we still really need to meet the French Minister of Transport. This is where the real bosses of French railways come in: the managers of SNCF.
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