To answer your interrogation, it's not train drivers that are funding most of their pension nowadays, it's the other tax payers that are paying. Short summary

To answer your interrogation, it's not train drivers that are funding most of their pension nowadays, it's the other tax payers that are paying. Short summary of the French pension system is that everybody is contributing a percentage of their earning to the state. (There is no private pension fund, it's only a single giant national pool). If you're part of a few select entities (like the national railway) you simply get more benefits from the state, but you do not pay more. The special pensions are typically in deep deficit between what their workers contribute and what they benefit back. They're only covered financially so far (by the tax payer) because pensions are ultimately a single giant pool in the national budget.