In an interview on 25th March, ÎdeF Mobilités president Valérie Pécresse gave an upbeat assessment of transport preparedness for the Olympic Games in the face of widespread scepticism of the gulf between what had been promised in 2017 and the current situation. There was concern over the very short time available for proving Line 14, ‘ the backbone of Games transport’, with its extension to Aéroport d’Orly scheduled to open ‘sometime in June’, and also for the poor reliability of RER Line C (644 trains cancelled in January). But “Thanks to the Games” she said, “many projects delayed by covid and other factors have been accelerated to meet the non-negotiable deadline” of 26th July. She praised the contractors and personnel involved for working so hard in recent months; in particular, Alstom had stepped-up production of MP14 trains at Valenciennes to ensure sufficient would be available for the Line 14 and Line 11 extensions to open in time. 

Don’t buy this ticket. Mme Pécresse referred to the original proposal for public transport to be free during the Games, later rescinded. ÎdeF Mobilités’ decision to temporarily double the price of a single metro journey to €4 has been widely criticised. She explained that the price rise was to encourage visitors to buy Paris2024 tickets online (available at pass.paris2024.iledefrance-mobilites.fr) to avoid congestion at ticket machines. These are priced from €16 and include airport travel. Regular tickets such as the Navigo pass will withdrawn from sale during the Games period. It is hoped that many visitors will walk short distances rather than taking the metro or bus.

Security. ÎdeF Mobilités has set up a new Brigade Régionale des Transports comprising private security personnel who will work closely with the 3,000 regular transport police and safety officers during the Games. In addition, 50,000 free transport passes will be handed out to police, gendarmes, military, fire and ambulance personnel. At the busiest times, up to 45,000 law-enforcement officers will be on duty, along with 50 sniffer-dog teams.

While approving of the lower fares that competition has brought, Spain’s minister of transport Óscar Puente has accused Ouigo of ‘deeply unfair’ tactics in setting prices at unsustainable levels. In interviews at the beginning of April, he accused SNCF of ‘market distortion’ on the Madrid – Barcelona route, where fares have dropped by 65% since opening to competition while expanding the market by one-third. Ouigo’s average fare for the 2h 30 journey (621km) is €37 compared with RENFE’s €62. Ouigo had incurred losses of €40 million annually in Spain he said, as a result of selling most tickets at ‘below cost price’.

The paucity of services linking the two countries was also mentioned. With Europe’s most extensive network of high-speed lines, Spain would like to be much better connected to France and possibly beyond, but it will be a decade or more before Madrid and Paris will be linked throughout by LGV. Additionally, it was reported last month in Catalonia’s leading newspaper La Vanguardia that European Sleeper’s plan for introduction in 2025 of a Barcelona – Amsterdam night train had been shelved indefinitely. This was one of the EC’s 10 pilot projects to improve cross-border rail services. 

Renewal work northeast of Toulouse sees Tessonnières – Capdenac closed until 5th July for relaying of 1km of track and renovation of 21 bridges and structures including strengthening the internal walls of the 1.5km Souel tunnel. Much of the work is aimed at increasing resilience to climatic change. On the other route from Tessonnières, towards Rodez, trains continue to run during resignalling between Tessonnières and Albi, except for one A/R Toulouse – Carmaux daily. Above on the afternoon of 23rd November  X73691/X73704 cross the Tour Viaduct shortly before arriving at Cordes-Vindrac station with TER 871206 13.03 Toulouse –Clermont-Ferrand. Photo: Georges Turpin.

CEVA Logistics, part of the CMA CGM maritime transport group, has reserved a 9.5Ha site in the port of Dunkerque to build a vehicle logistics park to handle import and export of finished cars by sea. The terminal, to be served by both rail and road, will open in October. It will initially be able to handle 47,000 cars a year, rising to 95,000 in March 2025. The terminal will specialise in electric cars and is programmed to double in size in the longer term. Rail traffic is expected to be one or two trains a week initially. 

On 30th March a trio of X 73500s (X 73736/X 73738/X 73527) made a rare appearance on TER 870309 12.24 Toulouse – Auch deputising for the normal BGC (B 81500) or Régiolis, seen above entering Toulouse Saint-Cyprien-Arènes. Photo: Georges Turpin.

Over the Easter weekend, engineering work on the westward extension of Eole saw closure of the underground section to Haussmann-Saint-Lazare with RER Line E services diverted into Paris Est, bringing Z58000 RER NGs into the station. The extension from Saint-Lazare to Nanterre La Folie opens on 6th May with a limited service. To raise capacity when the further extension to Mantes-la-Jolie opens at the end of 2026, ÎdeF Mobilités has ordered another 35 NG trains at a cost of €650 million. This brings the number of NGs on order to 166 out of the planned fleet of 250. Photo: Christophe Masse.

 The maire of Saint-Claude Jean-Louis Millet has expressed his anxiety over lack of funding for the Ligne des Hirondelles, the scenically-dramatic railway linking the town (population 10,000) with Andelot and Dole/Besançon. At a meeting on 24th February, he announced that Bourgogne-Franche-Comté had declined to contribute this year to the €1 million annual subvention shared between région and State that has kept the line going since 2018. With 18 viaducts and 36 bridges to be maintained and funding no longer assured, he feared that degradation of the infrastructure would inevitably lead to closure. He contrasted Saint-Claude’s situation with that of the similar but busier Ligne des Horlogers between Besançon and La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland which is currently closed until 31st October whilst undergoing a €52.5 million upgrade that will renew 22km of track and maintenance on 24 bridges and structures, with funding from Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.

Over the weekend of 30th/31st March the municipality of Cercy-la-Tour organised events to mark the 150th anniversary of the Nevers – Chagny line. GADEFT 140 C 27 is seen above piloting BB 67522 through Moulins-Engilbert, just north of Cercy. Below left. BB 67522 shows off its faded 'washed denim' livery as it passes slowly through Clamecy, where the line is subject to a 10km/h restriction over the bridge. Once the junction for the branch to Entrains, in the foreground is the track of the line from Clamecy to Nevers via Arzembouy. Below right. Preserved autorails head past Tamnay-Châtillon, junction for the former branch to Château-Chinon. Photos: Jean-Louis Poggi.

Rennes. Short-time working for metro staff introduced with the temporary closure in January of Line B (see February News) has been extended until 19th May, indicating that service will not resume before then. A press visit to Maltière depot on 26th March saw the first two bogies returned from Limoges where their central pivots had been replaced.