Defining the route, allowing residents to “get their hands dirty” and share their suggestions and fears: this is the objective of the consultation set up from May 6, 2024, concerning the future new Paris line. -Normandy (LNPN).
“The traffic density is such [sur les voies existantes, ndlr] that we have hazards and irregularities. The LNPN will put an end to the mix of traffic between Paris and Mantes-la-Jolie, congested by fast trains and slower trains which cause numerous slowdowns“, explains Didier Pastant, Deputy Director General of Transport and Land Planning in the Normandy region.
We are not going to address the mobility issue with urban buses.
Cyrille Moreau, vice-president of the Rouen Normandy metropolis in charge of transportat a press conference
During a press conference organized this Tuesday, April 30, 2024, the contours of this new line, which should connect Paris to Le Havre via Mantes-la-Jolie and Rouen Saint-Sever, with a section towards Caen and Cherbourg-en-Cotentin , were drawn. And its objectives, re-explained.
Clearly, the new Paris-Normandy line promises to increase the maximum speed of trains by creating suitable tracks. A second track between Mantes-la-Jolie and Nanterre will make it possible to complete a Paris-Mantes journey in 30 minutes, compared to 50 today. And on the Rouen – Barentin axis, trains will be able to travel at 250 km/h with a dip under the Seine… A Paris – Le Havre journey could thus be done in 1h50 (compared to around 2h20 currently).
A saving of time, materialized by a new station, that of Saint-Sever. “This is an essential project“, underlines Pascal Sanjuan, interministerial delegate for the development of the Seine valley. “The sector is the only place where interregional trains run on the same tracks. This creates real saturation.“
The challenges, therefore: improve the frequency of trains, their speed and their punctuality, for the approximately 16.4 million tourists who visit the region each year, and sustainably relieve congestion on the tracks around Paris-Saint-Pierre station. Lazare by creating a “leapfrog” – an uncrossing of the Normandy and Ile-de-France lines.
Under the aegis of the National Commission for Public Debate, an independent administrative authority, and SNCF Réseau, local residents are therefore invited to share their concerns and fears from May 6. They will be able to participate in finalizing the route between Rouen and Barentin (three are currently envisaged: East Roumare, West Pissy-Pôville and East Pissy-Pôville).
The project manager counts on this list of grievances to “converge towards the route which will have the most advantages and the least disadvantages for everyone“, assures Didier Robles, director of the LNPN project at SNCF Réseau.
The project is entering a very concrete study phase. We want to hear from residents about inserting the route of the line into THEIR territory. The project is being done with the Normans, with the Ile-de-France residents. It is done for them and with them.
Didier Roblesat France 3 Normandy
The new Paris – Normandy line should allow trains to run much more quickly, by relieving congestion on current lines.
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© SNCF Network
So to make your voice heard, you are invited to participate in the public meetings and workshops set up next week (the agenda is available here). “We are counting a lot on the mobilization of the population. This is an opportunity for us, after years of silence, to re-explain what the project is for and how it will improve relations between Normandy and Île-de-France.“, recalls Didier Robles.
The idea being, by 2025, to research “the route which will impact the territory as little as possible“, before the preparation of the public inquiry file on the chosen route. If this schedule is maintained, the LNPN, whose main developments in Normandy and Île-de-France are estimated at 5.3 billion euros, could see the light of day in 2035.
