Laissac station, abandoned since the Rodez-Sévérac line was stopped in 2017
Credit : Simon DEPUYDT – TOTEM
The station is abandoned, it’s been 7 years since the rails have seen a train pass, so Frédéric and his colleagues take out the brush cutters.
We are here to show that we are present to maintain our work tools. We couldn’t see the tracks when we arrived this morning. The infrastructure is aging, not original, but almost. Imagine a road that has not been resurfaced for 80 years. This is an idea of what rail is today, and why trains have been banned from running on it.
Perhaps we missed out on a reopening, because local politicians did not support this project as they can on other subjects.
Speaking of local elected officials, David Minerva, the mayor of Laissac, wanted to be present to share his point of view.
I am absolutely not against the train, I am absolutely not against this route. We were all sorry when it closed. I am simply saying that, for me, the RN88 with 2×2 lanes is an emergency in our territory. Every year, we have to announce deaths to families because of accidents on this road, mainly because of the overcrowding of this route.
Because between Rodez and Sévérac, two ultra-expensive projects have been in the pipeline for years: the train and the RN88. But not sure that the State and the region can finance both. Not even sure that they are able to finance even one. The cost of rehabilitating the rail line between Rodez and Sévérac is estimated at more than 130 million euros, while the Region will have to do without nearly 190 million euros in grants in 2025.
