In Bordeaux, elected officials are counting on Macron’s “metropolitan RER” to accelerate their project

Everyone was surprised by Emmanuel Macron’s announcement, on Sunday November 27, of “develop a network of RER and urban trains” in ten major French cities. As much the president (PS) of the New Aquitaine region, Alain Rousset, as that (PS also) of Bordeaux Métropole, Alain Anziani, or even the environmentalist mayor of Bordeaux, Pierre Hurmic. Once the surprise is over, everyone welcomes the State’s desire to speed up the thorny issue of mobility in Bordeaux, classified fourth most congested city in France in 2022, and the only millionaire urban area in France not to have its metro.

Read also: Emmanuel Macron announces the objective of “developing an RER network in the ten main French cities”

the state encourages us to continue our Girondin RER project, which is already well under way. This is a heavy investment for us, which requires financial support from the State, and we expect that here, in Bordeaux, the boost announced will be significant. »underlines Mr. Hurmic.

The project is ambitious. In addition to an additional platform planned at the Saint-Jean station, it plans to create two new stations in the suburbs of the metropolis (in Talence and Bouscat), but also new multimodal exchange centers and halts. This involves, beyond Bordeaux itself, improving three existing TER lines: Libourne-Bordeaux-Arcachon from east to west, Saint-Mariens-Saint-Yzan-Bordeaux-Langon from north to south and the Médoc between Bordeaux and the Pointe de Grave.

The cost of this Girondin RER amounts to 590 million euros for the rail infrastructure, to which must be added 90 million euros for the rolling stock. Currently, the state is funding the project to the tune of 190 million euros, the region 145 million, the department 170 million and Bordeaux Métropole 175 million.

“33% more passenger traffic since 2018”

We can clearly see that we have two problems: housing and mobility, explain to World Alain Anziani. People are fed up with being stuck in traffic. » The city councilor pleads that, from now on, the State speed up the movement » and “take out the wallet “. Because, concretely, means will be necessary for the project to go quickly.

The overall envelope weighs nearly one billion euros, with additional costs already identified, specifies the boss of the metropolis, in a press release sent Monday, November 28. We can hope that Emmanuel Macron’s announcement will allow additional financial support. It is also necessary for the SNCF to have the means to act for studies and works, with speed and agility. »

You have 27.53% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.

source site-30