Lhe Minister Delegate for Transport, Clément Beaune, gives himself the “budgetary priority” of increasing the resources devoted to the rail network, but it “would be dishonest to say” that we can do everything, he declares in an interview to Sunday newspaper. “But our network has been neglected for the past thirty years. Amplifying the effort made over the past five years is my budgetary priority,” said the Minister. The envelope currently devoted to the maintenance of the network is insufficient, he acknowledges.
“One of my priorities, from the start of the school year, is to think with SNCF Réseau about possible solutions or additional means”, he assures, while the CEO of SNCF, Jean-Pierre Farandou, proposes a plan valued at 100 billion euros to be able to double the share of rail in the transport of passengers and goods in France. “Based on a program over several years, we are going to put in place a precise assessment of needs and priorities to modernize our network,” he explains. It would be dishonest to say that we will be able to do high speed, regeneration, support for small lines at the same time, without sequencing or prioritizing”, however, qualifies Clément Beaune.
“Daily transport remains our priority”
The TGV is for him “not exceeded”. “We can use innovative financing solutions for new projects by bringing all the partners around the table, State, communities, Europe, project companies, and by mobilizing local tax resources”, he recalls, while former Prime Minister Jean Castex recently relaunched major projects, such as Bordeaux-Toulouse.
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But “everyday transport, often metropolitan, such as the Transilien in the Paris region, remains our priority, because improving it has a direct impact on people’s lives, he adds. My objective is clear: to improve everyday transport and accelerate the ecological transition. “ Clément Beaune also considers that the summer is “exceptional”, with both the strong return of the public to the trains after the health crisis and high temperatures. “Despite weaknesses on the network (and) traffic slowdowns, the public rail service has faced this situation of accelerated recovery”, he believes, insisting on a necessary improvement in passenger information in the event of problem.