Launched on December 11, 2022, the first express provincial network disorganized the existing railway lines, without fulfilling its promises.
by Nathalie Stey (Strasbourg, Correspondence)
Trains canceled at the last moment, others that do not stop; No more delays finish… This is the daily life of rail transport users in the Bas-Rhin since the commissioning of the Strasbourg Metropolitan Express Network (RELE), December 11, 2022. Only half of the 800 additional daily trains Promised is really assured, and many small stations have lost their service, forcing the inhabitants of these municipalities to take back their car.
Faced with the technical complexity of the subject, regional and municipal elected officials seem helpless. At the exit of the first piloting meeting held Tuesday January 17 with the SNCF and SNCF Network, few solutions are available to representatives of the Grand-Est region and the Eurometropolis of Strasbourg, the two initiative communities of this which was to constitute the first Metropolitan Express network in province. A commercial gesture has been required from the operator: a half decrease in the price of the monthly subscription will be applied the next three months. The SNCF also undertakes to put in place, as of February 6, the omnibus on the three lines most affected by the realization of the REM.
The reason for failure has been decrypted. “It is not a personnel problem in personnel neither in equipment, nor a concern for infrastructure. But the technical complexity of the operation was not appreciated at its fair value by the SNCF,” said Alain Jund, Vice-president of the Eurometropolis responsible for mobility. In particular having to manage a train arrival every thirty seconds, in both directions, in Strasbourg station. The SNCF station’s display system is also not suitable for the rate induced by the REM.
“do things differently”
Building a metropolitan express network will therefore ask for work and patience. Exit the “shock of the offer” announced previously. The levels of service should not evolve at the expected rate, but gradually, with the first version of the ENSARE in early April and a second phase in August. “We favor a step-by-step commitment. We no longer want a succession of transport plans from which we do not come out,” notes Thibaud Philipps, vice-president of the region responsible for transport.
The latter intends to compensate for the impact of this bad departure in the context of the overall negotiations in progress with the SNCF. “We want a greater consideration of the risk of hazards on the part of the establishment. Today, it is the community that exclusively pays the impact. This experience will also allow us to do things differently For the commissioning of express networks of the Lorraine furrow and the Reims star, scheduled for 2028-2030. “
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