Mobilization for the reopening of the SNCF line between Saint-Etienne and Clermont-Ferrand

SNCF users and elected officials from the Loire and Puy-de-Dôme denounce “the sabotage of the Thiers / Boën railway line”. On October 18 and 19, 2020, the mobilization was required in Noirétable in particular, to re-establish regional links between Saint-Etienne and Clermont-Ferrand.

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The return of trains to the small regional lines of the Saint-Etienne / Clermont-Ferrand axis does not seem to be a priority for SNCF. This Monday October 19, 2020, users and the mayor of Noirétable say they have interrupted, what they call “the sabotage of the railway line between Thiers and Boën-sur-Lignon“.

Operation cuts of the Thiers boen line of @SNCFReseau stopped thanks to users and elected officials including the mayor of noiretable. @denistamain Interpellation of @Djebbari_JB by @AndreChassaigne . Thanks everyone. pic.twitter.com/6BpgXGlGIh

– Haut Allier users (@UsagersHtAllier) October 19, 2020

300 people mobilized for the shortest cross-section

Friday October 16, 2020, there was a plenary meeting within the regional council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The opportunity for the Socialists and Democrats group to step up to the niche concerning rail infrastructure. Johann CESA, regional councilor, thus defended a “wish asking the Government to guarantee the coverage of investment needs for the region’s rail network, and in particular on Lyon-Clermont, Clermont-Saint-Etienne and Montluçon Lyon“. The Region refuses to engage, according to elected representatives of the opposition,”Laurent Wauquiez opposed us to an end of inadmissibility, without any valid argument“.

Result, the discontent of elected officials and users materialized by a day of mobilization, Sunday, October 18, 2020. Nearly 300 people met in the stations of Noirétable in the Loire, and that of Chabreloche in the Puy-de- Dome. They came with suitcases in hand, ready to board the train. Except that there are no more trains on the horizon on this Thiers / Boën-sur-Lignon section, since 2016.

Noirétable station (Loire) there were nearly 300 users who wanted to take the train with suitcases and luggage on this sunny Sunday. But no train on the horizon …#RetourTrainThiersBoen

For the shortest transverse between #Clermont, #Saint Etienne and #lyon #samuelpaty pic.twitter.com/ThXYrovEIA

– Haut Allier users (@UsagersHtAllier) October 18, 2020

The challenge for user groups and elected officials in these areas is to re-establish traffic on small regional rail lines, between Thiers and Montbrison, or even Montluçon and Lyon for example. It is above all a matter of re-establishing a most direct line between Clermont-Ferrand, Saint-Etienne and Lyon. Elected officials and users challenged Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, Minister for Transport.

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