2023-06-16 19:57:26
It was a promise from Emmanuel Macron. The National Assembly smoothly adopted on Friday a text expanding the missions of the Société du Grand Paris, renamed Société des grands projets, to put on track the promise of the RER in at least ten large cities such as Lille or Bordeaux.
Despite concerns from the opposition about the financing of these trains, the bill was approved at first reading unanimously by the 25 voting deputies and must now go to the Senate. The left and the RN mostly abstained.
Led by Jean-Marc Zulesi, Renaissance MP for Bouches-du-Rhône, this text legally organizes the deployment of “metropolitan regional express services” (SERM), the equivalent of the RER in Île-de-France. At least ten SERMs should be in place within ten years of enactment. The cities selected are not specified, but projects are underway in Lille, Bordeaux or Grenoble.
“Excellent news”, greets Beaune
The adoption of the bill “is excellent news for our public services and the decarbonization of transport”, assured the Minister Delegate for Transport, Clément Beaune. He promised “a specific team (…) in my ministry to support communities in carrying out these projects” from the start of the school year.
The text proposes that the Société du Grand Paris (SGP), currently responsible for the construction of the Grand Paris Express, be renamed the Société des grands projets, with expanded missions. It will be able to deal with new infrastructures, even work on lines on which no train has run for five years. “In no case do we question the expertise of SNCF Réseau”, insisted Jean-Marc Zulesi in the face of repeated concerns from the opposition. An agreement between the two organizations is planned.
A government amendment has clarified that the Major Projects Company could also intervene in the preparatory phases for SERMs.
Billet unique
President Emmanuel Macron had relaunched this already old project of metropolitan RERs in November: regional trains running every half hour, even every quarter hour at peak times, to irrigate the surroundings of large cities.
Video. A “Parisian” RER in ten metropolises… Is Macron’s ambition achievable?
In December, the metropolis of Strasbourg had launched its own with the promise of 800 additional trains per week and “a high and continuous frequency throughout the day”. With many malfunctions so far for users.
Amendments have been adopted for the introduction of a single ticket allowing different modes of public transport to be combined within the scope of the same regional express service.
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