The railway subject often has the gift of annoying elected officials. Even to drive them mad when the SNCF decides to remove a line. Those of Côte-d’Or recently took up the pen to tell Jean-Pierre Farandou, the operator’s CEO, all the bad things they think about the suspension of the TGV Mulhouse-Lille line, which was shut down since 2020 for hardware-related issues.
“The disappearance of this hyphen between Switzerland and Belgium would be harmful for many inhabitants and companies which have established themselves in our agglomerations thanks to the ease of access and service”, deplore the elected representatives. Passing through Dijon and Montbard, the line served, at the rate of two trains a day, the Marne-la-Vallée pole and the Roissy-Charles de Gaulle hub.
Consequence of the crisis
Problem: with the crisis and its consequences – the drop in air traffic, the development of telework – the connection has seen its attendance drop, -40% in 2021. That is a shortfall of 1 to 2 million euros, according to the figures from user associations. Enough to push the SNCF, forced by the 2018 railway pact, to consider its final cessation, according to them. To the great displeasure, of course, of local elected officials in the forefront of which François Rebsamen, the president (PS) of the Dijon agglomeration. A few weeks after the opening of the International City of Gastronomy, this decision would be, according to him, pure and simple provocation.
With the other elected officials, he intends to meet the president of the SNCF and, to finish convincing him, go knock on the door of Matignon. “The suspension of the line is no longer justified! “, insists the elected, hoping more than ever to be heard in Paris.
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