Each time Patrick Weiten meets Tobias Hans, Minister President of the Saarland, the subject comes up again. The German land wants to relaunch the Bouzonville-Dillingen line. It would put the Saarbrücken-Luxembourg link back on track, via Bouzonville and Thionville. A direct route that is more attractive than the current one, via Metz or Trèves. The president of the Moselle, who will be heard by the Landtag of Saar next week on the subject, sees it as an opportunity to relaunch the railway line of the Nied valley, closed to travelers in 2016 and only used to date by the freight. But also to better serve this German industrial city and the Saarlouis employment area, which hosts 15 to 25% of the total flow of cross-border workers in the Land.
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Many favorable opinions
Deutsche Bahn says it is ready to study the case. It signed with the German Federal Minister of Transport an agreement on 86 billion euros of investments until 2030. On the French side, twenty-four municipalities concerned by the passage of this line have deliberated for this project. Just like the urban communities of Val de Fensch and Portes de France-Thionville or the Community of municipalities of Arc Mosellan. Sarre and Moselle have also requested that this file be included in the priority projects to be examined by the Cross-border Cooperation Committee.
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“A fault of not realizing it”
But above all, Patrick Weiten pleads for inclusion by December in the State-Region plan contract, which would facilitate funding: “This is a key moment. If we miss it, we will lose another two years. The municipalities of the North and East of the Moselle are developing but there is a real problem of East-West infrastructure. It is green mobility and it is a priority to develop border relations. In terms of regional planning, it would be a mistake not to carry out this project. “For the elected official, the operation is technically very simple:” On the German side, there is a work of art to be done and the electrification of the line must be revived. On the French side, the Béning-lès-Saint-Avold / Thionville railway line, designed to link coal to the steel industry, is still active for freight. You just have to put passenger trains on it and restart the stations. “
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Rottner “listening”
The Department says it is ready to support this project financially, without giving any amount. Problem: his community does not have the competence. This belongs to the Grand Est region. Reluctant in July, believing that the Saar did not make it a priority, she seems to have changed her mind. This September 26, at the congress of mayors of Moselle, Jean Rottner raised this subject for the first time in the gallery, then in private, by insisting on the importance of the capillary rail lines: “They have recovered well after the health crisis. I am ready to launch a study of viability, attendance and cost. I don’t want to close this opportunity to myself. So here we are at the beginning of the beginning of a long term project.
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