Trains canceled at the last moment, others that do not stop; endless delays… This is the daily life of rail transport users in the Bas-Rhin since the commissioning of the Strasbourg Metropolitan Express Network (REME) on 11 December 2022. Only half of the 800 additional daily trains promised is really guaranteed, and many small stations have lost their service, forcing the inhabitants of these municipalities to take their cars back.
Faced with the technical complexity of the subject, regional and municipal elected officials seem helpless. At the end of the first steering meeting held on Tuesday 17 January with the SNCF and SNCF Réseau, few solutions were offered to the representatives of the Grand-Est region and the Strasbourg Eurometropolis, the two local authorities initiating this which was to constitute the first metropolitan express network in the provinces. A commercial gesture was demanded from the operator: a halving of the price of the monthly subscription will be applied for the next three months. The SNCF also undertakes to put back in place, from February 6, the omnibuses on the three lines most affected by the completion of the REME.
The reason for the failure has been decrypted. “It’s not a problem of personnel or material resources, nor a concern for infrastructure. But the technical complexity of the operation was not appreciated at its true value by the SNCF”, believes Alain Jund, vice-president of the Eurometropolis in charge of mobility. In particular the fact of having to manage a train arrival every thirty seconds, in both directions, at Strasbourg station. The SNCF station display system is also not adapted to the timing induced by the REME.
“Doing things differently”
Building a metropolitan express network will therefore require work and patience. Exit on “supply shock” previously announced. Service levels should not evolve at the planned rate, but gradually, with the first version of REME provided in early April and a second phase in August. “We favor a step-by-step commitment. We no longer want a succession of transport plans from which we do not leave »notes Thibaud Philipps, vice-president of the region in charge of transport.
The latter intends to compensate for the impact of this bad start within the framework of the global negotiations in progress with the SNCF. “We would like the establishment to take greater account of the risk of hazards. Today, it is the community that pays exclusively for the impact. This experience will also enable us to do things differently for the commissioning of the Sillon Lorraine and Étoile de Reims express networks, scheduled for 2028-2030. »
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