The Senate on Monday adopted a bill allowing the deployment of metropolitan RERs in at least ten large cities, including Grenoble. However, skepticism remains regarding the cost of these projects, estimated at between 15 and 20 billion euros.
The metropolitan RER project validated by parliament. After the National Assembly in mid-June, the Senate positioned itself largely by show of hands, Monday October 23, in favor of the bill allowing the deployment of these “regional metropolitan express services” (Serm), the equivalent RER in Ile-de-France.
This promise from Emmanuel Macron, however, struggles to convince given the cost of the projects. The government announced in September that it would allocate an immediate envelope of 700 to 800 million euros to launch “13 projects”including that of the “RER à la Grenobloise”, with three lines, which should see the light of day between 2025 and 2035.
Every day, 3 million trips are made in the Grenoble area, 85% of which are by car. With this regional train project every half hour, or even every quarter of an hour, the region’s elected officials hope to achieve 80% additional attendance on the railway hub.
Before the senators, the Minister of Transport Clément Beaune gave more details on the financing of these RERs, mentioning “767 million euros as an entry point for discussions with the regions”within the framework of State-region plan contracts.
Most of the benches, however, expressed their skepticism, while the total cost of Serm is estimated between 15 and 20 billion euros by the infrastructure orientation council. For the Grenoble project alone, the president of the Métropole Christophe Ferrari (various left) announced a total cost of one billion euros.
“We have a duty of vigilance. We must not promise miracles without being able to finance them”squeaked Senator Franck Dhersin (centrist group). “The economic and financial model of Serm remains the great unknown”added rapporteur Philippe Tabarot (Les Républicains).
The minister tried to reassure the Senate: the 767 million are not “not exhaustive and definitive financing”he promised, nevertheless asking the regions to mobilize “a similar sum”. While the state-region plan contracts are still in negotiations, the president of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Laurent Wauquiez (LR) expressed his disagreement with the sums promised by the government.
“I extend my hand on the condition that our region is respected. What we are being offered today is 7% of the national envelope even though we represent 13% of the French population. (… ) The State must align its words and its actions”he declared in an interview given Friday to Dauphiné Libéré.
The account is not there either for local elected officials. The envelope announced by the government would offer “enough to pay for the necessary studies roughly speaking, not the work”regretted in a joint press release four elected officials, including Christophe Ferrari. “It is edifying, dismaying, despairing and, unfortunately, a continuation of many years of neglect for the railways”they denounce.
“The State will be there, the communities will have to be there too”launched Clément Beaune in the face of parliamentarians who are struggling to see the coming to their territories “new railway deal” of 100 billion euros by 2040 promised by Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne.
To obtain guarantees, senators voted to hold a national financing conference by June 30, 2024. They also modified the text in part, by broadening the definition of metropolitan regional express services to alternatives to rail. It now includes express coach services, cycle networks and even carpooling and car sharing.
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