The SNCF once again guaranteed this Thursday, October 26 that the Metz-Nancy-Lyon-Marseille line would arrive on time. Much desired by the people of Lorraine who saw it withdrawn in 2018, this direct line is still awaiting its reopening. Initially, its suspension was only supposed to last five years, time to complete extension work at the Lyon Part-Dieu station. 2023, nada! The line is not reconnected. And travelers must always make endless detours to reach the south of France. A single connection, in the middle of the afternoon, allows you to reach Lyon without getting off the train, but via Strasbourg. All other trains require one to three changes.
Nancy-Lyon in less than 4 hours 30 minutes
This aberration should be corrected in 2029. The reopening project was once again debated this Thursday, October 26 during a steering committee brought together by the Grand Est prefecture. The SNCF, state services, communities and representatives of train users have agreed on the restoration of “two return trips Metz-Nancy-Dijon-Lyon via Toul in less than 4 hours 30 minutes (Nancy-Lyon ) per day with one departure in the morning and one in the afternoon in each direction”, confirming the promise made by Clément Beaune, Minister Delegate in charge of Transport, to the mayor of Nancy, Mathieu Klein. On the other hand, the question of transition has not been resolved. From 2024, it is, in fact, planned to set up a TER until 2029. This train should make the connection for five years from December 2024 and for five years. Except that the financing has not been completed as reported this Thursday in a press release by the senator of Meurthe-et-Moselle Olivier Jacquin, who has been advocating insistently since 2018 for the rail service to be put back on track.
Financing the interim period?
On paper, it is envisaged to make available to the SNCF trainsets paid for by the Grand Est region for a year. Afterwards ? A “territorial balance train (TET)” should take over. A TET is a line which contributes to the opening up and development of a region without necessarily being commercially profitable. “There remains this thorny question of financing the intermediate period and the amendment to the current TER agreement,” laments Olivier Jacquin. “I am very surprised that no real encrypted data has been transmitted to date,” continues the elected official. There is only an estimate of one million euros per year for communities outside the regional council. » This, while everything must be signed before December 31, recalled the regional prefect.
Olivier Jacquin is surprised that only the departmental councils of Meurthe-et-Moselle and Moselle, the metropolises of Nancy and Metz and the regional council are being summoned to a financial round table, to take place in the coming weeks. “I am worried about this poorly shared carrier,” he comments. More generally, this situation illustrates perfectly well the harmful effects of opening up to anarchic and poorly prepared competition from the national railway. The SNCF uses the closure of vital lines as an excuse for regional planning and communities are subsequently obliged to finance policies responding to private logic with public money. »
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