TER right bank of the Rhône: the users association strongly fears that the schedule for complete reopening of the line will not be respected

The Bagnols-sur-Cèze station construction site should be completed in April. The multimodal exchange hub should be delivered at the end of 2024. C. C. – Midi Libre

A delegation from the association met with the prefecture's services and had a meeting with the SNCF this Thursday, January 18 in Nîmes to discuss issues while proposing solutions.

Thursday January 18, a delegation of four volunteers from the TER-SNCF users' association on the right bank met in Nîmes with representatives of the SNCF to make  "raise all our demands", indicates Bagnolaise Laurette Bastaroli, honorary president. "In particular the problems of eliminating trains. This summer was a disaster, adds Pascal Rousson, president of the association since June and a railway worker. Many trains have been canceled, replaced by coaches, with a lack of information for travelers." Travelers bought their train tickets in advance. had not checked the day before if their train was running, they discovered at the station that the train had been canceled, "for lack of drivers". Except that the duration of the journey by TER or by coach is not the same. Complicated for appointments, possible correspondence, etc. A situation which has persisted in recent months, to a lesser extent. "People who had planned to take the train found themselves taking their car", continues Pascal Rousson. Another request: "Improve timetables to better cover home-work journeys in the morning and evening. Shift certain trains and limit connections to Avignon which sometimes last an hour, which can be prohibitive."  The delegation will also insist on "a whole bunch of station services" to be made more efficient, especially in terms of information for travelers. A Bagnolese user praising the Region's initiative offering TER tickets at 1 € nevertheless protests the discrimination it entails: these tickets are purchased exclusively online.

Two more years of procedures  

The association very much fears that the timetable for the complete reopening of the line (the Region requests that it be effective at the end of 2025) will not be respected. She has already met with the Gard prefecture to propose solutions and will do the same with the SNCF. "Work on the stations can only begin when the environmental and railway studies are completed. However, the files were validated at the end of 2023, these procedures take two years. We are asking that the studies be carried out but that in certain stations, that of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon for example, the work can begin in the meantime, because there are no major environmental issues, we are in an environment urban, there is no risk of flooding… Same for Bagnols, we are asking that the footbridge which will allow access to the platforms for people with reduced mobility be built in 2025. In Pont-Saint-Esprit , as in Bagnols and Remoulins, the quays have already been built, we can build a footbridge without the environmental procedure having any impact. As for the multimodal exchange hubs, that of Pont-Saint-Esprit is completed, that of Bagnols will be completed at the end of 2024. Work on the Bagnols station should be completed in April. In Pont, a reception room for travelers (without an agent) will be set up. "Studies on the other PEMs (L’Ardoise, Villeneuve, Roquemaure, Remoulins, Marguerittes) are underway. The communities are working very well, they are waiting to have the timetable to start the work." 

A schedule of meetings for the residents of the different towns where the train will stop

Finally, the association announces that it will organize information meetings in each of the municipalities that will one day see its station reopen. The first could take place in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon in March.
 

Pascal Rousson, new president since June 2023

Pascal Rousson has chaired the TER-SNCF users association on the right bank of the Rhône since June 2023. But he participated in its creation with Laurette Bastaroli in 2009, and was vice-president for a long time. -president. Cheminot, retired since December 24, he knows the file very well. Especially since at the SNCF, he was notably responsible for the reopening of PEMs in conjunction with the communities.

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