Work to modernize the SNCF line linking Nice to Tende began on Monday, September 2. These developments are disrupting the daily lives of users who will no longer be able to take the train until December 2025.
The inhabitants of the Roya Valley saw their daily lives turned upside down on Monday, September 2, with the start of renovation and modernization work on the SNCF line linking Nice to Tende. These developments will cause the end of train traffic until December 2025.
For residents of the valley, working in Nice and who take the trains daily, this traffic stoppage is a real thorn in the side. To compensate for the absence of trains, replacement buses have been set up in certain stations, such as that of Breil-sur-Roya.
“The driver didn’t know the road”
A solution that has not yet completely convinced users. “It was a bit of a chaotic first start. The driver didn’t know the road, he took the wrong direction, we had to take a detour via Ventimiglia so we were delayed,” Pascal Queyre, a user of the Nice-Tende railway line, told BFM Nice Côte d’Azur.
The SNCF and the Sud Region indicate that the bus journey to Nice from Breil-sur-Roya takes 1 hour 10 minutes, a time limit that seems difficult to respect for Pascal Queyre.
“It’s going to get worse and worse, we’re on pure theory. When there’s traffic, this delay is impossible. In addition, we know that it’s a complicated road with hazards, there could be falling rocks or trees, especially during the rainy season,” he says, jaded.
“There are adjustments that will necessarily be necessary”
For his part, the mayor of Breil-sur-Roya, Sébastien Olharan, told BFM Nice Côte d’Azur that he had raised his constituents’ questions about the buses during a meeting at the prefecture.
“There are a number of issues that users wanted to raise, particularly regarding the reception of people with disabilities and the frequency of buses. There are adjustments that will inevitably be necessary and I think they will be heard,” announced the councillor.
The bus solution is not the one that Breil-sur-Roya users would have preferred. “We would have preferred to have a train service maintained in the morning and evening with works that were organized in partial closure, but the SNCF told us that it was not possible,” concludes Pascal Queyre.
In total, these renovation works cost 78 million euros.
Julia Pellegrini with Sylvain Allemand
