First announced for June 2022, then postponed until December, the inauguration of Railcoop is now a reality. postponed indefinitely due to difficulties in arranging financing with banks. In other words, the funds needed to enable it to acquire the nine railcars dedicated to operating the future Bordeaux-Lyon line. Railcoop currently owns only two of these, one of which will be stripped to the bone in order to provide spare parts for repairs to this future rail fleet.
" Today, the continuation of the acquisition of the trainsets is guaranteed by the closing of the financial round." said Alexandra Debaisieux, Railcoop's Deputy Managing Director, at a press conference in Clermont-Ferrand on Thursday. " We are confident that things will move forward quickly." she added. Help is expected from a number of banks interested in this project, for which €7m has already been contributed by the 12,000 cooperative members, including 200 companies and associations along the route.
Based in Figeac, in the Lot region, Railcoop aims to relaunch rail services between Bordeaux and LyonThis route was discontinued by SNCF in 2014 due to insufficient profitability. However, the cooperative has to battle with SNCF Réseau to obtain the train paths it needs to schedule two Bordeaux-Lyon round trips a day, a 7.5-hour journey that will also include stops at Périgueux, Limoges, Montluçon and Roanne stations.
If the round of financing is successfully completed, Railcoop will be able to go ahead with the purchase of the trainsets from SNCF and the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region, and then begin refurbishing them in the ACC M workshops in Clermont-Ferrand. Six months will be needed for this operation, which aims to create comfort worthy of long-distance travel. These X72500 trains from the TER network in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region are thermal railcars capable of running on this non-electrified transverse line.
It should be noted that no public subsidy, in particular from the State, has yet been provided for this project, which is both economic - via the relaunch of a cross-border line as called for by the previous government - and ecological, with the aim of making the rail network more environmentally friendly. prefer rail to road when it comes to mobility. Railcoop has already been operating freight trains between the north of Toulouse and Viviez-Decazeville in Aveyron since November. It has already obtained its safety certificate and its railway company licence.
