The Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on Friday made official what it described as a "major step forward" in the development of the company. new deal for the railways ". And confirmed the figure that had already been circulating for several hours - and even for several months, in Jean-Pierre Farandou's speech - i.e. 100 billion euros. " We are making it a priority to invest in the infrastructure that will enable us to succeed in the new millennium. ecological transitionstarting with the rail which is the backbone of mobility. In practical terms, this means that the State wishes to commit itself alongside the SNCFtheEuropean Union and local authoritiesto achieve a " New rail deal" in the order of 100 billion euros from here 2040 ".
The former Minister for Transport was presented with the report "Investing more and better in mobility to achieve a successful transition" by David Valence, head of the Conseil d'Orientation des Infrastructures (COI), which is in charge of the issue. And of the three options discussed by the COI, it is the " ecological planning scenario "This is what the council explicitly recommended. In fact, this was explicitly recommended by the Council, which felt that it would be "necessary to ensure that all the players involved in the process are involved". should be considered as the central assumption towards which the Council recommends public choices to be oriented "as David Valence points out. " This ecological planning marks very strong choices: for the regeneration and modernisation of the railwaysfor theaccelerating regional metropolitan system projectsfor the adaptation and transition of existing roads, and for maintaining an ambitious investment trajectory for waterways ".
In her speech on Friday, Elisabeth Borne pointed out that two key areas which should guide future work: the everyday transport and of course the decarbonation. As a result, the Metropolitan RER - already mentioned by Emmanuel Macron at the end of last year - should benefit from this wave of investment.
Referring to " exceptional means "which should make it possible to put an end to the ageing of the network and modernise it" Elisabeth Borne also said: " We will further increase investment in the existing network to reach an additional €1 billion per year by the end of the five-year period for network regeneration and €500 million per year for network modernisation. (...) This will mean more trains, better punctuality and shorter journey times" .
The government's strategy and its practical application in the region should become clearer in the coming weeks. The Prime Minister told the President of the COI: " It is thanks to your guidance that we will be able to develop our plan for the future of transport between now and the summer. ".
