Above all, do not let a great project, which is moreover a unifying project, pass by during this election campaign. The Ministry of Transport therefore published, on Thursday 27 June, the list of the first fifteen “metropolitan regional express services” (SERM) – projects to strengthen public transport eligible for public funding – to which it has awarded its label. The winners are: Bordeaux, Chambéry, Clermont-Ferrand, Grenoble, Lille, Lyon, Montpellier, Mulhouse, Nantes, Rouen, Saint-Etienne, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Tours and Lorraine-Luxembourg.
Around ten other projects should still be announced next week. The ministry examines in particular the projects presented by Avignon, Marseille, Nice, Orléans, Toulon as well as the Basque-Landes, Franco-Swiss projects and that of the Côte d’Opale (Pas-de-Calais).
A SERM is what Emmanuel Macron called, in a video released on YouTube on November 27, 2023, a metropolitan RER. This involves better serving metropolises from the outskirts or medium-sized towns that surround them and which, due to a lack of fast rail or road connections, are losing employment and attractiveness.
Reduce the space of the car
A SERM must provide for the establishment of express coach connections, with a high level of services (Wi-Fi, parking, reserved lane, etc.), a network of cycle paths, a carpooling offer, and above all a single ticket and price to have access to all modes of transport. It must also facilitate access for people with disabilities. He can also launch the creation or strengthening of the rail, metro or tram network, but this is not obligatory. In the long term, thanks to a tight timing of trains or buses, over a wide range of times, it will be able to reduce the place of cars or single-use vehicles. And therefore improve air quality and facilitate the transition to low-emission zones.
Since this announcement, where there was talk of around ten regional RERs, the idea has gained ground in the Assembly and throughout France. Supported by Jean-Marc Zulesi, Renaissance deputy for Bouches-du-Rhône, and president of the sustainable development committee, a law defining SERMs and providing for their labeling by the State was voted on and promulgated in December 2023. It transformed the Société du Grand Paris (SGP), which made it possible to finance the development of 200 kilometers of additional metros for the Grand Paris Express, as a Société des grands Projets, so that it can operate everywhere in France, in parallel with SNCF Réseau.
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