Work on the Capdenac-Villefranche-de-Rouergue-Tessonnières (Tarn) line is coming to an end. If no trains have been running between these three municipalities since April 8, travelers will be able to return to normal from July 5. With the disruptions to the Rodez-Paris connection and the alternations between Rodez and Millau, Aveyron rail traffic has at least some good news.
Travelers will be relieved. After three months of railway work, the Capdenac-Villefranche-de-Rouergue-Tessonnières line will resume service. Although there are still a few weeks before its official opening on July 5, the SNCF announces that certain major works have already been completed.
Rail traffic interrupted, and for good reason: 13 weeks of work necessary between Tessonnières (Tarn) and Capdenac (Aveyron). In total, nearly 21 structures have been renovated and reinforced, including the Souel tunnel in the Tarn.
“The tunnel had to be consolidated in order to treat areas weakened by time and climatic hazards”, explains Ludovic Vandewalle, VP rail project manager. Equipped with their equipment and work helmets, the 60 agents set out on one of the major projects on the line.
The teams, who operate from two work trains on either side of the structure, must reinforce the weakened and dilapidated walls and vaults. “ We install steel grids and spray high-strength concrete onto the old bricks. he adds. With a length of 1.5 km, the project should end on June 28, to allow a week of checks, cleaning and withdrawal. In addition to the Souel tunnel, several operations are still in progress (bridges, embankments, excavations, tunnel). A regeneration of the track was carried out over almost a kilometer, in order to stabilize the railway platform by making it more resilient to natural phenomena. More than 200 agents were mobilized on the sites, for work which represents an investment of 25 million euros, financed both by the Occitanie region (66.5%), the State (25%), and the SNCF Réseau group (8.5%).
“The work will end unofficially on June 28. But we will give the agents a week of checks to clean and put the equipment back in place,” comments Ludovic Vandewalle. Officially, trains will run again on Friday July 5. In the meantime, replacement buses are still in place between Tessonnières and Capdenac to ensure user travel. The SNCF Réseau group insists on the need to invest in the maintenance of structures which are part of the common good, specifying that the “Train attendance in Occitanie is up 57% compared to 2023, which reassures us in our work choices”.
