The Minister of Ecological Transition Christophe Béchu, who is responsible for transport, asked the boss of the SNCF on Friday for a “very short-term complementary action plan” to improve traffic on the Intercités Paris-Clermont-Ferrand line. “Beyond the long-term investments that we are going to make, the situation of the Paris-Clermont line could no longer continue and I asked him for a complementary action plan in the very short term,” declared the minister at the resulting from a meeting with the CEO of SNCF, Jean-Pierre Farandou.
This Paris-Nevers-Vichy-Clermont line is known for its repeated delays, regularly denounced by its users. Friday January 19, the breakdown of a locomotive on the line left 700 passengers stranded overnight on a train in very cold weather. A program to modernize the line has been launched, notably with the arrival of new trains, called “Oxygène”, whose delivery is planned for 2026.
Also read Paris-Clermont-Ferrand: this cursed SNCF line, “open wound” for users and local elected officials
The State has also undertaken work on the line to the tune of one billion euros, a first tranche of which was released by the former Minister for Transport Clément Beaune in November. On what tracks could new measures be implemented in the meantime? Nothing leaked from the meeting. “We agreed that the SNCF would detail this action plan very soon”, i.e. within a fortnight, the ministry said. The SNCF confirmed for its part that it was working on this plan.
Christophe Béchu underlined the “unbearable nature of both the incident last Friday and the repetition, in recent months, of these incidents”. “I am only the spokesperson for the legitimate exasperation of travelers and elected officials,” continued the minister. “I would point out, however, that we have inherited a very degraded situation in terms of the level of modernization of infrastructure.” The minister plans to go to the region in February to “exchange with the various stakeholders in the territory”.
