It’s by wanting to challenge the State on spending.”ubiquitous” imposed on local authorities, while asking them for billions of euros in savings within the budget, during the congress of mayors of Aisne in mid-October that the vice-president of Hauts-de-France in charge of Transport released this information, as noted by the newspaper L'Union: the Region is forced to spend 1 billion euros to replace 40 TER trains containing asbestos with a view to opening up to competition on regional rail.
In fact, the Region has been aware of this problem for three years: since 2007, the European “REACH” directive has prohibited the sale of any good in the Union if it contains asbestos, which would require the replacement of 40 trains during the opening to competition planned for 2028 on the Lille star (all TER trains which radiate around Lille, to the coast). For the majority of Xavier Bertrand, we must ask the EU for an exemption from this directive for trains. The vice-president of Transport, Christophe Coulon, explains this to France Bleu Nord: “This problem must first be resolved legally because the French State is the only one in Europe not to have requested an exemption for trains from this asbestos directive.“
An exemption to request
He explains that he alerted successive Transport Ministers on several occasions, including the current occupant of the position François Durovray. “Half of the regions of France are affected by this problem so the Ministry of Transport must give a sign of life. he adds. The Region refuses in any case to pay 1 billion euros – a sum which represents one year of the transport budget in Hauts-de-France – for replace trains that can theoretically run until 2038.
For the CGT Cheminots, what it describes as a “billion-euro dumpling” is one more reason to abandon the project of opening up to competition: “It's a billion anyway, says Xavier Wattebled, secretary general of Nord-Pas-de-Calais. Either they find a billion under the hoof of a horse and a company to build 40 trains in a few weeks which does not exist, or we must abandon this far-fetched idea of opening up to competition which will complicate an already very complex system. .“European rules in any case set an opening to competition of regional lines at the latest by the end of 2033, even if the SNCF could win the prizes.
However, the presence of asbestos in these TERs does not represent a health riskassures the Region. The components concerned, glues and insulators contained in closed compartments, are not in contact with the public or SNCF agents. This problem does not concern the Amiens star, the opening of which to competition is scheduled for December 15.
France
