Lhe lines committee for the Saintes basin met on Tuesday April 4 in Saintes to discuss the next grid of TER timetables and connections, which will be applied from December 2023 for a period of one year. This “annual service” concerns line 16 for Angoulême-Saintes-Royan and line 17 for Niort-Saintes-Royan. Jacky Emon, the regional adviser, provided the animation and recalled the Optim’TER approach to improve schedules…
Lhe lines committee for the Saintes basin met on Tuesday April 4 in Saintes to discuss the next grid of TER timetables and connections, which will be applied from December 2023 for a period of one year. This “annual service” concerns line 16 for Angoulême-Saintes-Royan and line 17 for Niort-Saintes-Royan. Jacky Emon, the regional adviser, provided the animation and recalled the Optim’TER approach to improve TER timetables at constant means.
1 More acceptable connections at TGV stations
A 40% increase in TER-TGV connections of less than thirty minutes. Black point of the current service 2022-2023, the waiting times at the station of Niort but especially of Angoulême pass to a level deemed acceptable, according to the regional adviser. With more than thirty minutes of waiting between the descent of a TER and the rise in the TGV (and vice versa), the TER is of little interest. “Too small or too large a connection” quickly diverts the train. However, “the TER is a substitute response to the car”, underlines Jacky Emon who, while defending connections with the TGV, underlines the attention paid to internal travel in the two Charentes.
2 Additional TER journeys
On this point, therefore, of the TER lines, Jacky Emon advances for next year an improvement in service thanks to the signaling work in progress on the Saintes-Angoulême axis. This three-month project, started on March 20, will improve travel time between Saintes and Angoulême, with centralized referral from Beillant and the reopening of a crossing point in Sireuil, in Charente. Time management will be improved.
The regional councilor can announce “an additional TER, in the evening peak, between Saintes and Angoulême. We also managed, in the process, to have an arrival no later than 8 am for the first TER trains in Royan. “Essential for schoolchildren. Another novelty: “A Bordeaux-Royan without reloading (without having to get off the train) for students between Bordeaux and Royan, on Friday around 5 p.m. and between Royan and Bordeaux, on Sunday evening. The link should also be of interest to tourists.
3 Better for the Saintes-Niort line
The Saintes-Niort branch will also be better equipped since the future annual service provides for an additional round trip per day between Niort and Saintes, after 7 a.m. and after 6 p.m. This new offer should last six months because the line will then be closed due to the very important line regeneration works. This work, expected and essential for the trains to return to their normal speed, that is to say 100 km / hour, will cost 68.6 million euros, 60 of which will be provided by the Region. During the construction period, travelers will have to take buses, as is currently the case for travelers on the Saintes-Angoulême section.
4 Bikes at seven stations
New from this summer 2023, the provision of electric bicycles in the stations of Royan, Saujon, Saintes, Beillant, Jarnac and Châteauneuf-sur-Charente. A “Vélo zen” ticket at 5 euros will be offered on the Angouême-Saintes-Royan line. The experience should last two years. It is implemented by the Region and the four intermunicipalities concerned in Charente and Charente-Maritime. This new service is intended both for people who want to get to work when they get off the train and for tourists who are planning a bike ride. The trick is to avoid two-wheelers on trains.
The bad feelings of the Fnaut
Benoît Groussin, Poitou-Charentes president of the National Federation of Train Users, was on the line committee on Wednesday April 4 and for him, “the account will not be there. We have the feeling that yawning in TER-TGV connections, especially at Angoulême station, will still be present. A presentiment and even a mistrust because “we did not have the train paths of SNCF de Réseau for the TGVs”. That is to say the future timetables of the TGV. “We can not believe that on statements,” warns Benoît Groussin. The doubt is all the greater since a meeting scheduled for Monday, two days before the lines committee, with the Region, the intermunicipalities and the users has been canceled. It should make it possible to provide answers to the proposals of each and every one formulated in December 2022. “When you don’t want consultation, it’s because you’re not sure of yourself. The Fnaut therefore remains unsatisfied.
