The Limousin department is testing several innovative measures, such as on-demand stops or reduced trains in order to maintain TER services.
Stop on demand, tickets that can be purchased by SMS, innovative study train: Limousin is multiplying experiments to revitalize small railway lines, whose future is clouded by a controversial report from 2018.
At Meymac-Jassonneix station in Haute-Corrèze, TER trains do not stop. Except in exceptional circumstances: if the driver sees a user on the platform raise their hand or if a passenger signals to the inspector that they wish to get off.
“It’s like taking the bus! It helps us get into the habit of taking the train to go to certain big cities,” says Brigitte, a retiree who has become a regular on the line.
The system, which also exists in Brittany on the Carhaix-Guingamp line, was tested for almost a year by the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region and the SNCF before being made permanent on two lines at the end of 2023.
“People use it regularly, it has become part of some people’s transport habits. It really does provide a service,” applauds Philippe Brugère, mayor of Meymac, who is keen to emphasise that “the idea came from local elected officials at the grassroots level”.
“Inherited from a bygone era”
The SNCF selected stations “where there is little traffic, in order to maintain services and see if we were capable of creating an innovative system”, explains Benoît Reiner, territorial director of Lignes TER Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
Other requirements include sections of line limited to around 80 km/h to facilitate late stops, suitable station signalling and a reduced traffic volume to ensure the safety of users near the track on the platform.
The experiment allowed us to be “reassured from a technical point of view because it is a new professional gesture for the drivers and controllers”, underlines Benoît Reiner.
Its success has been hailed by the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region, which is keen to revitalise these small lines, whose existence seemed threatened six years ago by the publication of a report by Jean-Cyril Spinetta.
The former head of Air France proposed carrying out a socio-economic audit before any new investment on these 9,000 km of lines “inherited from a bygone era” according to him, which represent a third of the national network but only 2% of traffic.
“We need to innovate in the railway sector, for reasons of signalling security but also of cost because the cost of reopening, regeneration or modernisation is prohibitive,” argues Alain Rousset, president of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine regional council.
“Lighter trains”
This major train promoter wants to “make rail traffic more flexible or switch to electric or lightweight trains”. Thus, since March 18, the TELLi (Innovative Light Train), developed in the Saintes ferrocampus in Charente-Maritime, has been running in commercial service on several Limousin lines.
“This is a study train to modernize TERs. The idea is to acquire a flow of data in real time with cameras and radars, in order to define new processes to develop technological innovations on these trains,” explains Alain Rousset.
These new “decarbonized trains with on-board batteries and hydrogen solution” could transport passengers from 2029.
Another experiment by the SNCF in this predominantly rural area: ticket purchases by SMS, particularly on the Limoges-Felletin line. The customer texts the first three letters of their departure station to 93330. The instructions arrive in return: indicate the first three letters of their arrival station, choose their fare and finally validate the purchase.
“It’s a successful test!” says Benoit Reiner. “It allows you to buy without a bank card because it is directly taken from your phone plan.” These devices could be extended to other regions, without however representing the miracle solution to save certain lines of the network.
“Purchasing by SMS is more about making things easier. There is no ambition to double the number of passengers. And for stopping on demand, the objective is to maintain services. It’s a good start,” says Benoit Reiner.
