Starting point for the metamorphosis of Bezannes, the opening of the East European high-speed line has brought an entire territory closer to Paris, but also to other major French regions.
After a long wait that lasted more than twenty years, the TGV Est-Européen was inaugurated on June 10, 2007. The regions of eastern France finally have access to the advantages of high speed. In Reims, this revolution is reflected in the development of two business districts, one in Clairmarais, just behind the central station, the other at the foot of the Champagne-Ardenne TGV station in Bezannes. “Long before completing this file, all or almost all the elected officials had understood that this project was essential for the region, recalls the president of Greater Reims Catherine Vautrin who, at the time, was a deputy for Marne. However, it was a very complicated file, because for the first time, the communities had to participate financially in the project. To bring what is not yet the Grand Est closer to the capital, a budget of €4 billion is needed, including €1.2 billion provided by the regions crossed. This financial package, unprecedented in the history of the TGV, is not done without behind-the-scenes negotiations. Jean-Claude Etienne, then president of the Champagne-Ardenne region, managed to get everyone around the table. “For example, we had to convince the Aubois who were fighting to electrify the Paris-Troyes line, but also to take into account the route and its impact on the Montagne de Reims Natural Park or on the vineyard. The idea is then that the high-speed line benefits all of the former Champagne-Ardenne and not just Reims. This is how the TGV offer reaches as far as the Ardennes, with a handful of connections to Paris and a stop at Reims station, but without changing trains. At one point, there was even talk of linking the TGV line to Vatry airport, which came into service five years earlier. “What was unfortunately not done”, regrets Catherine Vautrin. But it is perhaps the only hitch of the project, because 15 years after the inauguration, the LGV Est has indeed become the hoped-for locomotive. “It is a major tool for our territory, which has allowed Reims to enter the group of cities located less than an hour from Paris, welcomes the elected official. It seems to me that no one can say today that this is a mistake, even if the service provided to travelers can always be improved”. With the TGV, the travel time between Reims and Paris is halved, going from just under two hours to 48 minutes. Prices, of course, have increased. “Some complain about it and it is logical, hence the need to maintain a quality offer on the TER Vallée de la Marne”, insists the elected official. This line makes it possible to reach Paris from Epernay and Châlons at a lower cost, but with an average journey time of just under two hours.
To Paris and all French regions
In this case, the Reims conurbation is fortunate to host the Champagne-Ardenne TGV station in the territory of Bezannes, when the other LGV Est interconnection points are being built in the countryside. This establishment at the gates of the city of coronations has therefore resulted in the development of a business park which today brings together more than 200 companies in which approximately 4,000 employees work. For train users, Bezannes station, unlike Reims center where the TGV only makes the journey to Paris Est, offers, in addition to those with the capital, province-province connections, to the Atlantic coast and the North. On the passenger side, after a constant increase recorded until 2019, with a peak that year of 1,154,599 passengers, Champagne-Ardenne TGV experienced, like all stations in France, a serious slowdown due to the health crisis and confinements. In 2020, only 564,137 users were registered. Since then, the numbers have started to rise again. According to the latest available, Bezannes welcomed 716,909 travelers in 2021, including just over 5% arriving by TER from Reims center station. For 2023, Champagne-Ardenne TGV intends to get closer to the pre-Covid figures thanks to its 28 trains, including 17 towards Paris and 11 towards Bordeaux, Nantes, Strasbourg, Lille or Brussels. An additional connection, on an experimental basis, at the weekend to Germany must also be added, in order to reach Freiburg and Europa-Park.
