The Léman Express is undergoing major disruptions and is already causing a certain fed-up. A petition has been launched, as revealed on Friday Geneva Tribune. In addition, the Versoix town hall announced on its website that it had sent a letter of complaint to the manager of the Léman Express offer as well as to the state councilor Serge Dal Busco.
Commissioned last December 15, the Léman Express had nevertheless been greeted with enthusiasm on both sides of the border. The first statistics, released earlier this week, indicated 2,500 daily users. Penalized by strikes, traffic on the entire network, including France, began on Wednesday. However, train delays and cancellations are increasing.
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A petition launched on the internet
Stéphane Conus, Green candidate for Versoix City Council, therefore decided to push a “democratic rant”, as he calls it, through an online petition. “So that the Léman Express stops playing with our nerves” asked the managers of the network to meet quickly to take concrete measures to remedy these disturbances. Over 500 signatures were collected in two days.
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“Just yesterday, one train was canceled and the next was twenty minutes late. It’s unbearable, ”says Stéphane Conus. And when the trains arrive, some are in a reduced composition with sometimes only one train. “People going up to Versoix find themselves squeezed like sardines and at the following stops, some have to stay at the quay for lack of space,” adds the Versoisien. He is also aware of cases where these repeated delays have led to unfortunate consequences. “A local resident lost his job because he did not arrive on time. He was on trial. In addition, some students from Collège Sismondi were excluded from the courses because their delays were too numerous, ”he explains.
In the running-in phase
Lémanis, the joint venture managing the network, is aware of these problems and claims to act with a view to finding solutions quickly. “A task force meets regularly,” says Céline Monteiro, communications manager. She explains that these difficulties are mainly caused by the technical break-in phase. “Normally, it should have taken place on December 15, but it was delayed in particular because of the strikes,” she said. In addition, specific incidents came to worsen the situation on Wednesday evening: an accident with a wild boar and a breakdown of a freight train near Annemasse which blocked the station.
When will we return to normal? Lémanis cannot advance a date. The disruptions should therefore continue next week again. “We apologize to our travelers who suffer these inconveniences,” says Céline Monteiro. The company also recognizes that it lacks responsiveness in its communication with users. This will be resolved in the short term, she says.
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