the essential
The Agglo will only be able to develop 10,000 m2 out of the 20,000 m2 planned in the multimodal hub project. The second part is blocked by the SNCF.
Certainly, we are far from the initial project, developed in 2018. But it is a first step. And for the elected officials of Greater Albigensian, after so many years of negotiation with the SNCF, it is a relief.
The first developments of the multimodal hub will finally be able to begin after a transfer of land management. They will cover two areas: the station square and a plot of land on rue Général Giraud.
On the latter, located opposite the administrative city, the Agglo will create a car park with 80 spaces. On the surface and not aerial as stipulated in the deliberation. The number of places is based on SNCF estimates of attendance. It was knowingly limited because, as Jean-Michel Bouat, the vice-president in charge of the file, recalled, car parks are “car vacuum cleaners”. The aim of the Agglo is to reduce the number of vehicles in the city center and to promote alternative transport. This is also one of the objectives of creating a multimodal hub.
The square will be completely redeveloped. It will be pedestrianized, parking will be removed. You will find a drop-off point, a place for taxis, bicycle lockers, bus stops, a car-sharing station. The aim of the work is to make the place more attractive and to have a more modern welcome to encourage people to take the train.
The second part of the layout remains. The goods yard, where the SNCF has installed algécos for several months. On this part, the problem is Kafkaesque. The SNCF considers that the Albi site is operational for freight. Indeed, the Albi site is included in the network’s national reference document. Even if all the studies, and the last one again, show that there is no potential for freight. The biggest potential contributor would be glassware with 52,000 tonnes (the threshold is 100,000). And not all the bottles go to the same place, so we don’t really see the point.
Despite this, the company makes the release of space in the old goods yard conditional on the creation of a new freight site in the area. What the Aggloo does not have.
Even if it is revised downwards, this first development will provide “an idea of the future development”. But above all, the city will be able to start considering the development of Place Jean-Jaurès. After the work, buses will be welcomed at the station. For the city, the change will be significant.
