While the government has clearly displayed its priority for the train, metropolitan RER could quickly see the light of day in ten French cities. In the West, the Pays-de-la-Loire region and the metropolis of Nantes want to “move quickly” and even recently announced that they were working “closely and efficiently” on the file. But what could this RER look like? SNCF Réseau unveiled some answers this Tuesday morning.
A train every half hour
“The idea would be to switch to one train per half hour on the branches of the Nantes railway star”, explains Christophe Huau, territorial director for Brittany-Pays-de-la-Loire. The routes concerned would go well beyond the borders of the metropolis since the axes connecting Nantes to Savenay, Ancenis, Sainte-Pazanne, Clisson or even Nort-sur-Erdre should be concerned. If the exact contour remains to be clarified, “we are not going to build new tracks”, warns Christophe Huau in any case, who speaks of an “intermodal and service” project.
Works for a “more fluid” circulation
Work will however be necessary in order to be able to circulate more trains, and coordinate them with the TGV or freight, sometimes operated on a single line. Among the most massive investments already planned, the renewal of the signal box in Nantes which will allow a “more fluid and more intense” traffic, promises SNCF Réseau. That of Angers will also have to be replaced with a view to the creation of a metropolitan RER there too. The future but long-awaited modernization works of the TGV Nantes-Angers line will facilitate the realization of the project, in particular during the already very saturated rush hours.
Get rid of the car
The logic of the Nantes metropolitan RER is therefore to use the existing infrastructures by offering a “more regular” frequency over a “longer” time slot. An essential condition for “really being able to get rid of the car”, we believe at SNCF Réseau. “You will only switch to the train if you are sure of being able to return easily in the event of the unexpected, even in the middle of the afternoon, for example to pick up your sick child at school”, thinks Christophe Huau. The territorial director recognizes that there are today “hollows”, especially during the day.
Part of the metropolitan RER open to competition
In the summer of 2023, a new operator (or the SNCF if it applies and wins the call for tenders) will be designated for the operation of approximately “one third of the regional passenger market” of Pays-de-la-Loire. The latter will therefore be in charge of part of the future metropolitan RER since it will operate the Nantes-Chateaubriant, Nantes-Clisson tram-train, but also the Nantes-Saint-Gilles-Pornic line. On this subject, “the question of service to the airport is still under consideration with the construction of a new railway stop”, indicates SNCF Réseau.
