The permanent commission of the Ile-de-France regional council voted this Thursday to participate in a
"relay protocol"
, a budget extension allowing the construction of the extension of the RER E to the west to continue, a victim of significant additional costs .
Read also: IDF: a tunnel boring machine to dig the RER E between Paris and La Défense
“It's a relay protocol to maintain the operational pressure of a project. (...) The usefulness is not to stop the site and not to slow it down ”
, noted the vice-president in charge of transport, Stéphane Baudet, quoted by a spokesperson.
According to the report presented by the president of the regional council Valérie Pécresse,
“SNCF Réseau noted a significant cost overrun of the project, in the order of 640 million euros (at 2012 economic conditions), excluding discount and excluding additional costs linked to the health crisis that has since arisen, which should therefore further worsen the situation ”
.
The bill has so far been estimated at 3.8 billion euros (at 2012 economic conditions), contributed in particular by the Société du Grand Paris (1.5 billion) and the region (1.1 billion).
66 million from the region and 82 million from the State
Pending an audit by Ile-de-France Mobilités,
"SNCF Réseau requests that a temporary solution be put in place and threatens, failing that, not to enter into the contracts necessary for the continuation of the work, at the beginning of 2021"
, we read in the report.
Hence this
"relay"
, a credit advance of 182 million euros (still under 2012 conditions) to SNCF Réseau
"to cover its commitments to be made in 2021"
.
The region on Thursday approved its participation of 66 million euros, while the state will provide 82 million according to a spokesperson for the Ministry of Transport.
The balance must be provided by the Hauts-de-Seine and Yvelines departments, as well as by the City of Paris.
SNCF Réseau recognizes that
"there are additional costs linked to ancillary projects"
, but these are still
"under evaluation"
, according to a spokesperson.
Often called Eole, the RER E currently connects Chelles and Tournan (Seine-et-Marne), in the eastern suburbs, to Saint-Lazare station in Paris.
The work in progress - delayed by the health crisis - aims to extend it west to Nanterre via La Défense in mid-2013, then to Mantes-la-Jolie (Yvelines) at a date which still needs to be reassessed.
They include the boring of an 8 km tunnel and the redevelopment of 47 km of existing tracks.
