The cross-border RER project aimed at strengthening the rail offer between Lorraine and Luxembourg is taking shape. Called SERM for Metropolitan Regional Express Service, this service is based on the current TER Nancy-Metz-Luxembourg line.
Thursday June 27, the French Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion formalized the labeling of fifteen projects, including the Lorraine-Luxembourg link. The State therefore invites regions and local authorities to continue work on developing their SERM.
Reduce car dependency
Concretely, the cross-border mobility project must now submit an in-depth file with the aim of officially obtaining SERM status by decree, but also funding. This file includes in particular the objectives of the project, its roadmap as well as its financing plan.
“The SERMs aim to reduce dependence on the car, to make a competitive and networked public transport offer accessible to as many people as possible and to connect small and medium-sized towns more effectively to the metropolis by reducing travel times and/or by improving frequency. They thus contribute to the fight against climate change, but also to the control of metropolisation,” underlines the ministry in a press release.
No more trains
As a reminder, the SERM Lorraine-Luxembourg project corresponds in particular to an increase in the frequency of trains between France and the Grand Duchy. The ambition displayed by the Grand Est Region is to offer a train every 10 minutes from Metz and a train every 7.5 minutes from Thionville.
The rail offer is more broadly part of a multimodal network that also includes cycle paths, parking infrastructure, high-level road transport services, and the promotion of carpooling. In total, 800 million euros are dedicated to financing studies and initial works. All of SERM’s projects in France correspond to a total investment of more than 10 billion euros, while in the Grand Est, the State’s overall investment amounts to 650 million euros.
