On the occasion of the Show of Mayors and Local Authorities, the State and SNCF Réseau signed three new financing agreements worth €38.5 million for the Paris-Orléans-Limoges-Toulouse (POLT) and Paris-Clermont axes. -Ferrand.
These were the forgotten rail lines, the lines of despair: Paris-Orléans-Limoges-Toulouse (POLT) and Paris-Clermont-Ferrand. However, at the start of the year, the news was intended to be reassuring: renovation of rails and catenaries, modernization of infrastructure, purchase of new trains… The State had to invest 2.5 billion euros.
A On the occasion of the mayors’ show, the Minister responsible for Transport Clément Beaune completed these first announcements.
The State has just signed 3 new financing agreements for a total amount of €38.5 million with things that were planned and others not.
The only direct link between Paris and Toulouse with 5 round trips per day, over time the Paris-Orléans-Limoges-Toulouse (POLT) line was abandoned by the SNCF to make way for the TGV. Lhe 713 kilometers of POLT railway tracks have aged, so have the coral cars and the stations.
Today these 2 abandoned lines Paris-Orléans-Limoges-Toulouse (POLT) and Paris-Clermont-Ferrand would therefore be “a priority” of the government. The Minister of Transport announces a budget of €21M for work.
The long-time defenders of this axis are rather happy, like the president of the “Tous ensemble pour les gares” association, Georgette Laporte, who has been fighting for a long time. “This is good news. Hoping that the minister will keep his promises. Because we have had some but they need to be kept. I think that this Minister of Transport is still listening to us. I gave him some grievances but we have the feeling that we have been heard. The people of Lot must take action to maintain the pressure.”
The ministerial press release does not go into detail about the financing for each line but the construction site. is vast.
By chance or coincidence, several Lot elected officials met this week experienced some difficulty getting to the congress of mayors in Paris. The fault… once again canceled trains.
In Gourdon (Lot) the station is quite shabby and traffic is disrupted. “There are even trains canceled at the last moment, with people who stay at the station, declares Jean-Marie Courtin, the mayor of Gourdon and president of the Quercy-Bouriane community of communes. We need a POLT line that is redone, in good condition. It is a structuring line for the country. Paris-Toulouse is essential. I have been in Gourdon for over 30 years. At the time, there was a train every quarter of an hour. The frost did not have time to set in. With only 4 or 5 trains a day, we have a big problem with that.”
Will the 100 billion euro rail plan announced on February 24 by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne begin to materialize? The replacement of the catenaries between Brive and Cahors is planned in the coming months. According to the Ministry’s press release, “the two agreements for the POLT line signed today concern the financing of works between Brétigny and Boisseaux (€13 million) and the financing of studies and consultation files for companies between Les Aubrais and Montauban (nearly €8 million).
The president of the Lot Departmental Council Serge Rigal still remains cautious. “These are works that were planned. It’s always good to hear that they are going to be done. But we do not yet know what share of the 100 billion euros announced by the Prime Minister will go to the POLT line.
Hopes and expectations for elected officials and economic players in the region. Last year more than two and a half million users used this line.
With Paul-Etienne Zahn from France 3 Quercy-Rouergue.
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