How far will the costs of modernization work on Saint-Denis station, this gigantic site, the delivery of which is expected before the 2024 Olympic Games?
According to our information, the bill for the metamorphosis of the tenth largest train station in France in traffic, with 100,000 daily travelers, worries the General Inspectorate of Finance.
In a confidential note dated March 31 that we reveal, the mission of the economic and financial control of transport, the service of the Ministry of the Economy in charge of the control of public companies in the sector, notes the financial slippages of the SNCF concerning a part the station development project, which provides for substantial accessibility work.
A new square, brand new platforms, a new passenger building and a long and wide underground passage passing under the RER D and H line railways are planned.
A cost increase of more than… 98.1%
As part of this work, the total amount of which was estimated at 68 million euros in 2018, the contract for this development work awarded in 2018 by SNCF Réseau for 36.8 million euros "with a favorable opinion from the control mission "is now estimated at" 72.9 million euros, or 98.1% increase ", notes the mission.
The bill for the overall project, "amounted to 70 million euros on January 1, 2020", has also soared, from "117 million euros in October 2020" to "125 million euros in March 2021", she explains.
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To explain the current situation, the mission, which wonders "about the consequences in terms of management of such a questionable use of public funds", points to "the difficulties [which] originate from the SNCF, an insufficiently present internal control. , incomplete coordination of worksites […].
As for the deal, "ideally it should have been terminated as soon as possible," she said.
SNCF ensures that the operation is now "under control"
Asked by Le Parisien, Gares et Connexions, the SNCF subsidiary in charge of the project, explains the additional costs "by a combination of factors not predictable at the start". And specifies: “We first had unpleasant surprises during the civil engineering works when we discovered that the soils were of lower quality than what we initially thought, hence more earthworks and concrete reinforcements. The project was then modified several times to take into account the Olympic Games project, the relocation of the T1 tram stop and the desire shared with our partners
(Editor's note: Ile-de-France Mobilité and the region)
to strengthen infrastructure, including more elevators and more escalators. "
The public company also justifies the additional costs by "stopping the site for a month in March 2020, because of the 1st confinement, which had cascading effects". Faced with the situation, she claims to have "had to choose between increasing resources and therefore expenses to meet deadlines, or limit expenses by extending the duration of the work by almost two years". The operation, says SNCF, is now "under control".