PARIS (Reuters) - 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.