Stéphane Bérard: “Senator Alain Marc seems to want to oppose rail to road”

La ligne Beziers-Neussargues est classée « train d’équilibre du territoire » Midi Libre

Returning to the comments of Senator Alain Marc concerning rail and transport arrangements in South Aveyron, regional elected official Stéphane Bérard wanted to clarify certain things.

Omnipresent last week in South Aveyron, Senator Alain Marc made numerous appearances, accompanying Minister Marie Lebec during her visit to the cycle manufacturer Wish One or in turn inaugurating tour the RTE electrical substation of Saint-Victor and Melvieu or the Ehpad of Rivière-sur-Tarn.

However, it is a completely different piece of news that has caught the attention of the Region and made some of its angry elected officials choke up, to put it that way, at the comments of the resident of Luxembourg Palace on the subject of mobility.

Last Tuesday, inviting the mayors of the territory to accompany him on the Béziers-Neussargues railway line, Alain Marc made numerous declarations for the occasion. Judging in essence that apart from the Béziers-Neussargues line, the Aveyron rail offer was limited only to the Rodez-Paris train.

If the senator is the spokesperson for the Region’s commitment on the Béziers-Neussargues line, I can only associate myself with it.

"It’is reductive if not totally wrong, thunders the regional elected official Stéphane Bérard, member of the commission Mobility and Infrastructure. There is a very dense rail service around Rodez, particularly towards Toulouse or Figeac with a frequency of seven daily round trips."

"If Alain Marc seems to discover that the Béziers-Neussargues line is a structuring line, s’stifles the Capdenacois, it has been a long time since the Region understood the stakes and the need to invest in this axis – already 30 M€ from memory – which, I remind him, is part of the territorial balance trains, the TETs, which are under State jurisdiction."

Stéphane Bérard: “We are counting on Alain Marc to ensure that the State assumes its powers and returns to its sovereign actions.” DR

"Alain Marc wants to oppose rail to road"

In Aveyron on Tuesday to "promote the line", in particular pleading for better timing, the senator estimated, on the other hand, that "recreate train lines" as the Region is precisely considering for the section between Rodez-Séverac  "would be madness economically"."Why not provide hydrogen buses with eight or ten daily round trips. We need common sense and not be ideologues when we talk about mobility."

A sentence which, again, clashes with regional ambitions. "We are fully aware that we cannot offer all services. That our territory will only be irrigated with intermodality, by developing road transport when we cannot do otherwise: mobility is effectively an addition of solutions that must be implemented ;rsquo;articulate coherently across the whole of Occitanie. There is no question of opposing rail to road as Alain Marc seems to want , summarizes Stéphane Bérard.

"We strongly support this achievement"

Fully invested in "carbon-free mobility", confirms the elected official, "what's more, with green hydrogen produced in Occitanie", the Region intends to carry out its flagship project: construction of the Rodez-Séverac-Millau line.

"We strongly support this achievement. The financial envelope is available (of the order of 80  ;M€ Editor’s note). We are now urging the SNCF, which is in charge of the project, to take charge of this project head on. ."

For delivery ? "In 2028 or 2030", entrusted to Midi Libre< em> the vice-president of the Region Jean-Luc Gibelin, referring to a future steering committee, during 2024,< em> "to see where we are".

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