The Ministry of Transport announced yesterday that Tours was one of the 15 networks labeled “metropolitan regional express services” (SERM). This excellent news also marks the beginning of a long process. What will happen now? Strengthening the offer, new stations… The first elements of a response.
All it took was a video from the President of the Republic in November 2022 to relaunch the Touraine railway star. A real sea serpent of local politics, the subject had been on the table for more than 40 years. By announcing his intention to provide 10 French metropolises with regional express networks, Emmanuel Macron has given unprecedented impetus to the Tours project.
44 stations which serve 80% of the departmental population
The territory’s elected officials made no mistake and immediately seized the opportunity. A few days after the presidential announcement, Frédéric Augis and Emmanuel Denis took up their pens to write to the Minister of Ecological Transition, Christophe Béchu. In their letter, they called in particular for a strong mobilization of the State while recalling the exceptional characteristics of our 10-pointed starOur department has no fewer than 44 stations that serve more than 80% of the population. They are spread along 400 kilometers of railway lines.
The message was clearly perfectly received by the State. On January 27, 2023, the Prefect of Indre-et-Loire, Patrice Latron, was among the personalities present at the headquarters of Tours Métropole to sign a joint declaration of intent. A real demonstration of force from the Presidents of the intermunicipalities of Indre-et-Loire. That day, they could also count on the support of the President of the Centre-Val de Loire region, François Bonneau.
From outsider to big winner
However, the game was far from won. Everyone knew it: Tours was not included in the list of projects considered priorities to develop metropolitan regional express services. The report of the Infrastructure Orientation Council (COI) published in February 2023 had harshly reminded us of this. We were part of the networks ” to prepare “and not of those “to move forward quickly”.
There’s no reason to give up, however. Over the past year and a half, meetings with all stakeholders in the region – coordinated by the Tours urban planning agency (ATU) – have increased.
Elected officials, technicians and mobility experts gathered around the same table to produce a “minute file” for labelingIt was sent to the Ministry of Ecological Transition at the beginning of the week to present the general ambition of the project, its scope and its main strategic orientations.
More resources thanks to the SERM label
The efforts of this mobilization will not have been in vain. The quality of the Touraine application has visibly convinced. Christophe Béchu announced yesterday the presence of Tours among the 15 projects eligible for the “SERM” label, alongside cities such as Bordeaux, Grenoble and Strasbourg. This procedure constitutes the first step in the implementation of the 2023 law on metropolitan regional express services.
The development work is therefore only just beginning. It must now continue with a view to obtaining the status by order. This decision will be taken on the basis of a new, even more in-depth file. It must specify the objectives, the road map to achieve them, the financing plan as well as the planned governance arrangements.
Ultimately, labeling should make it easier to obtain public funds and pave the way for new skills in engineering. The law provides in particular for the management of the construction sites of future metropolitan RERs by the Société des grands projets (SGP), formerly the Société du Grand Paris. The aim is to provide France with services similar to the German S-Bahn. The aim is to offer a viable and economical alternative to the all-car model. thereby putting an end to the city-rural opposition in terms of mobility.
More trains, but not only that…
If the SERM of course plans to intensify the supply of trains, it should also facilitate intermodality through a single ticket and pricing. Across Touraine, this will be accompanied by the development of express coach lines, secure cycle paths, a carpooling offer and the continued development of tram or tram-train lines. Multimodal exchange hubs (PEM) will appear.
In order to make these projects a reality, the ATU is launching a development and town planning study this month. A “Touraine pass” should soon see the light of day in order to encourage the transition from one mode of transport to another. By the end of 2025, the Fondettes-Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire station will once again receive passengers. This will be the first reopening of this type in Indre-et-Loire.. New stops should then see the light of day (La Ville-aux-Dames, La Riche, etc.). The reinforcements of rail and road services will continue simultaneously, based on the model of what was done in Montlouis-sur-Loire at the end of 2022.
In the longer term, but still during this decade, more substantial infrastructure work is planned. In-depth technical studies will be necessary to carry out an ever-increasing reinforcement of the offer. All of these developments will be followed here.
