After Marseille-Nice, the private operator wins the concession for the railway line between Nancy and Contrexéville (Vosges).
In the region, the SNCF monopoly in TER is under attack again. The Grand Est Regional Council awarded the concession for the railway line between Nancy and Contrexéville (Vosges) to a group led by Transdev on Friday, the first lot awarded to a private operator in the region.
Remember that putting SNCF into competition with other operators to run TER trains has been mandatory since the end of 2023.
The contract, worth 721 million euros, covers a period of 22 years. This batch actually corresponds to the reopening of the line which is expected in December 2027, with the promise of 14 daily round trips. Until then, studies and work will have to be carried out to put this road, which has been closed since 2016, back into service.
But if this line had been closed, the SNCF had still responded to the call for tenders via an application led by Keolis (one of its subsidiaries) with Eiffage. Regioneo (with Colas and Meridiam) and Vinci withdrew during the procedure.
Reopening a line
“Reopening a line is reaffirming our commitment to the territories, their accessibility and their attractiveness,” declared the regional president, Franck Leroy, in a press release.
The chosen group, which will be responsible for operating the line as well as managing the infrastructure, is made up of Transdev, NGE Concessions and the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations.
“Mobility is an essential issue in peri-urban areas as well as in rural areas. Transdev is proud to participate in the revitalization of these in the Grand Est region with its partners”, reacted the company to AFP .
“This marks the strong desire of the Grand Est region to regenerate a railway network abandoned by the State for several decades,” affirms the Regional Council.
In the South-East, Transdev will launch next year
This is a new victory for Transdev, a French group 66% owned by Caisse des Dépôts and the German Rethmann, which also won a call for tenders, launched by the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region for the busy Marseille-Toulon-Nice line, in 2021. On this line, its first trains should enter circulation in July 2025.
Transdev will use a train manufactured by Alstom. 16 trainsets were ordered from the manufacturer.
Above all, and this is the main expectation, Transdev promises to double the number of daily round trips on the line which has long crystallized criticism against the SNCF.
“Transdev will double the transport offer, with 15 round-trip connections per day and hourly schedules over a wider range of times. The challenge is to provide greater quality of service, reliability, regularity and punctuality (97.5% of punctual trains)”, we can read in a press release.
let’s remember that other calls for tender regional projects are underway where the SNCF risks once again losing its monopoly.
Olivier Chicheportiche with AFP
