CIt's an investment that raises questions. In August 2023, the rail freight line between Laluque and Tartas is finally renovated. Total cost of the operation: more than 25 million euros, financed to the tune of 17 million euros by the Region. If the renovation of these 12.5 km of track was decided after the derailment of a train at a place called Coulis in Bégaar, in March 2019, the new track has not yet seen any trains run.
“Once the work was finished, checks had to be carried out. Roughly speaking, trains could have run from the end of 2023,” specifies Renaud Lagrave, vice-president of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in charge of mobility. Historically, at the end of these roads, two industrialists: the Tembec paper mill, in Tartas, now Ryam, and the Maïsadour cooperative.
The train replaced by the truck
SNCF Fret was responsible for transporting several thousand tonnes of ammonia and soda annually to the Ryam factory in Tartas when the SudOuest local rail operator (OFP) transported several thousand tonnes of corn from the Bégaar silo to the Maïsica site in Bayonne. “For the year 2019, we even had to transport 150,000 tonnes of corn,” indicates Laurent Sasal, director of OFP SudOuest.
For more than four years, the rail freight route was therefore closed. The above-named companies then made other arrangements to receive or ship merchandise. “As soon as the line closed, we chartered trucks to transport our thousands of tonnes of corn to the Maïsica port silo in Bayonne. The goods are then loaded onto boats which head towards northern Europe,” underlines Yves Condom, operations director at Maïsadour.
With road transport, Yves Condom admits: “We have much more room for maneuver than the train”. However, the group would have a new ambition with the railway: “The idea would be that our customers charter trains. The latter would leave Bégaar and cross the renovated route to reach northern Europe. » This project could be implemented “between January and February 2025”.
Revenge of the train
For its part, the Ryam factory in Tartas has also turned to road freight. “We replaced the train with the truck. » The factory, through the voice of Christian Ribeyrolle, president of Ryam France, maintains “want to work with the different stakeholders to use the railway again”. For the train to once again be able to transport goods to the factory, Ryam will first have to invest in rehabilitating its internal railway tracks, unused since the closure of the Laluque-Tartas line.
In a speech full of enthusiasm, Laurent Civel, president of the Community of Communes of Pays Tarusate, brings an optimistic vision to the file: “I am delighted that this line is new and we will not fail to use it. This is a public investment that we know will not be lost. We are not in the immediate, it is a projection. It is essential to restore iron to its former glory. He contributed to the urbanization and industrialization of our country in the 19th century.e century. I believe in revenge of the train. »
Laurent Sasal, director of OFP SudOuest, is in the same vein. “We are lucky to have these 12.5 kilometers of track in good condition. There has been a public investment effort to develop railway activity. We need to find an operating model so that we can take advantage of these facilities. »
And Renaud Lagrave concludes: “After the derailment, at the request of the companies, we made commitments to rebuild this track. I believe we have done our part of the bargain. »
