ATS
The CGT denounced on Friday a chaotic commissioning of the “European Metropolitan Express Network” (Reme), less than two weeks after the launch in Strasbourg of this first RER in the region. The union accuses the SNCF of not having listened to the warnings of the railway workers.
The CGT claims that no less than 509 trains were canceled during the first week of operation, including 200 for lack of driving staff. Launched on December 11, the Reme was to offer travelers 800 additional trains from one end of the Strasbourg area to the other on a network of 95 stations.
The union adds that 175 convoys were also subject to partial cancellations, that is to say that they could not go to their terminus. “We were aware of the technical inability of Strasbourg station to support such a schedule and above all of the lack of human and material resources to achieve this,” writes the CGT.
When questioned, the SCNF Grand Est refused to comment on the union’s figures and blamed the cancellations on the cold snap which particularly hit Alsace last week. The carrier had to resolve to “adapt” its TER transport offer during the school holidays.
“In order to restore the equipment, and because the weather imposes slowdowns, the number of circulations from Monday to Friday is reduced on certain lines serving Strasbourg”, indicates one to the press service. Travelers benefit from more trains overall than before the Reme, argues the SNCF.
While the Reme required 700 million euros of investment, the region regrets having been presented with a fait accompli by the decision of the SNCF to reduce the airfoil during the holidays.
At the end of November, the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron announced his ambition to develop an RER network in ten major French cities.
ATS