Clément Beaune also recognizes, in an interview published in the “Sunday Journal”, that he will have to set priorities, and that it would be dishonest to say that we can do everything “at the same time.
Le Monde with AFP
The Minister for Transports Clément Beaune gives himself “budgetary priority” to increase the means devoted to the rail network, but it “would be dishonest to say” that we can do everything, he declares in an interview with the Sunday newspaper .
“But our network has been neglected over the past thirty years. Amplifying the effort made for five years is my budgetary priority,” said the minister. The envelope currently devoted to the maintenance of the network is insufficient, he recognizes.
“One of my priorities, from the start of the school year, is to reflect with SNCF Réseau with any additional solutions or means”, he assures, while the CEO of SNCF Jean-Pierre Farandou offers a Plan evaluated at 100 billion euros to be able to double the rail share in the transport of passengers and goods in France.
“We are going to set up, from a programming over several years, a precise assessment of needs, and priorities to modernize our network,” he explains. “It would be dishonest to say that we can do at the same time high speed, regeneration, support for small lines, without sequencer or prioritize”, nuance however Mr. Beaune.
Priority to daily transport
The TGV is “not exceeded” for him. “We can use innovative financing solutions for new projects by putting around the table all the partners, State, communities, Europe, project companies, and by mobilizing local tax resources”, he recalls, While the former Prime Minister Jean Castex recently revived major projects like Bordeaux-Toulouse.
But “everyday transport, often metropolitan, like the transilian in the Paris region, remain our priority because to improve them has a direct impact on people’s lives,” he adds. “My goal is clear: improve everyday transport and accelerate ecological transition.”
Clément Beaune also considers that summer is “exceptional”, with both the return of the public in the trains after the health crisis and strong heat. Despite “weaknesses on the network (and) traffic slowdowns”, “the public rail service has faced this accelerated recovery situation,” he said, insisting on a necessary improvement in information from travelers in travelers problem.