“I have nothing to do with it,” insists Valérie Pécresse, on an Instagram video published this Wednesday afternoon.
A response to the many fans of Beyoncé, who for 24 hours have been attacking the president of Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM), the authority which organizes transport in Île-de-France, disappointed because a single concert date of the star will take place in May at the Stade de France.
Indeed, the star's only Parisian concert, scheduled for Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis) on Friday, May 26, was stormed in a few minutes on Tuesday.
And the second date, a time mentioned on Saturday May 27, could not be maintained… due to SNCF works.
RER B and line K are indeed interrupted on the weekend of Pentecost, in accordance with a schedule established for several years.
“I received many messages from extremely disappointed Beyoncé fans”
It was enough for fans of Beyoncé to pour their despair on Valérie Pécresse, deemed responsible for the cancellation of this date.
“I have received many messages from Beyoncé fans who are extremely disappointed with the cancellation of the second date.
But I have nothing to do with it.
You must not spoof!
“defends the one who is also president of the Île-de-France region.
The elected, LR candidate for the last presidential election, explains that the dates of work on the RER B are known two years in advance.
“All professionals know this.
If Beyoncé's producer made a mistake and put tickets on sale on a strictly impossible and untenable date, it's his fault.
You don't have to dump yourself on others."
"I love Beyoncé, I welcome her to Île-de-France"
Last year, Soprano also had to postpone his concert for the same reasons.
Half of the spectators indeed join the immense enclosure of Saint-Denis by public transport.
But with the approach of the Olympic Games, the SNCF had to accelerate an already particularly tight schedule of works between the Grand Paris Express projects, Charles-de-Gaulle Express between the Gare de l'Est and Roissy, the accessibility of the stations and the modernization of the RER B and D lines. Major works requiring the operator to regularly cut the lines in the evening and on weekends, as will be the case on the weekend of May 26.
However, it is impossible to find an alternative solution to transport the 21,000 spectators who must take the RER B. At the risk, according to SNCF Transilien, of having "evacuation times of several hours with the threats to public security that may be caused by movements crowd".
But Valérie Pécresse does not close the door to the international star: "I love Beyoncé, I welcome her to Île-de-France, but next time, we will have to take a producer who checks that the Stade de France is available" .
