Linked to the opening of rail competition, the new rapid schedule is in place on the Cannes-Menton line with a train every 15 minutes from 5:45 a.m. to 10 p.m. since Sunday. Like the RERs in the Paris region, the “metropolitan regional express services” are launched on one of the busiest rail routes in France (70,000 users/day).
It started on Sunday for the new timing of the TER on the Cannes-Menton line with a train every 15 minutes, from 5:45 a.m. to 10 p.m. The opportunity for users to forget the timetable (until now the rapid schedule only concerned peak hours). Like the RERs in the Paris region, these metropolitan RERs, called “metropolitan regional express services” are now launched on this axis which is one of the busiest in France (70,000 users per day). (Photo WTM).
A renovation plan for around forty trains will ensure over time this new frequency which is linked to the opening to competition. A revolution in French railways and for the SNCF which until now had kept the monopoly. On this Cannes-Menton Riviera line, however, the new operator Sud Azur remains a subsidiary of Sncf which obtained the market following a call for tenders. But in June, a new stage in this competition, the Marseille-Nice line, described as an “intercity” line, will be operated by Transdev. This is a private operator, a new entrant on the French market.
For this first stage which has just started on Cannes-Menton, three other lines on the Coast are also concerned with a different timing: Grasse-Cannes-Nice-Vintimille, Les Arcs-St Raphaël-Cannes-Antibes and Nice, la Roya . In detail:
- 2 TER per hour all day between Nice and Drap, 1 TER per hour all day between Drap and Breil, compared to 1 TER per hour only during peak hours, morning and evening, previously,
- 2 TER per hour all day between Cannes and Grasse, previously only during rush hour,
- 2 TER per hour during peak hours and 1 TER per hour the rest of the day between Les Arcs and Cannes, previously 1 TER every two hours and 1 TER during rush hour.
On the other hand, the reorganization also aims for better punctuality with, above all, fewer delays, one of the current black spots. The new transport plan concocted by the South Region aims for 98% of trains on time (84% in 2023). For the moment, it is not yet won. France 3, which tested the Nice station yesterday morning, noted several trains late, or even cancellations, particularly in the direction of Monaco. Delays which can however be attributed to the start of this new program.
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