Le Figaro Bordeaux
It’s time to hang up the wagons between Bordeaux and the coast.
At least this is the opinion of many Girondin mayors, who want to see a train set up between the Bordeaux metropolis and Lacanau.
A journey that could be completed in just 30 minutes, thereby relieving congestion on a regularly congested road.
After an initial study carried out between 2017 and 2019, several elected officials want to put this project on track.
“
We are capable of achieving this connection in the years to come
,” judges Laurent Peyrondet, the mayor (MoDem) of Lacanau, with enthusiasm.
“
This is a very important project for us.
With
the metropolis growing more and more
, between tourist activity and daily activity, transport on this departmental road greatly disrupts the lives of those administered.
» At rush hour, “
it’s hell
”, testifies the city councilor.
This train would then present numerous advantages, for the Girondins, their wallets and the climate.
The opportunity study commissioned by Lacanau describes this project as a means of “
responding to the problems of road congestion in the north-west quadrant of the Bordeaux metropolis
”, with a potential attendance of more than a million annual passengers from by 2030, at an estimated cost of around 200 million euros.
“
This would make the line profitable with a user rate ranging from 4 to 6.5 euros depending on the formula.
»
Also read TER in New Aquitaine: three billion euros invested by 2030 to “make people prefer the train”
An electric and economical “tram-train”
For comparison, more than 120 million travelers per kilometer took the TER line linking Bordeaux to Arcachon in 2018. In summer, this train to the beach, running several times a day, is regularly mobbed.
The Médoc still remains a fairly isolated territory, making residents dependent on their cars, thus causing traffic jams and pollution.
For the moment, only TransGironde regional buses provide the link with the metropolis.
These lines linking Bordeaux to Porge, Carcans and Lacanau total 4,000 daily trips.
“
140,000 people are transported by bus during the summer period, we see full buses pass by but our residents cannot even take advantage of them
,” laments Laurent Peyrondet.
This train project is now appealing well beyond Lacanau.
Stéphane Delpeyrat-Vincent, mayor (Génération.s) of Saint-Médard-en-Jalles, in the Bordeaux metropolis, met his Canaulais counterpart at the end of 2023 in order to relaunch this subject.
A meeting will also be organized on March 7 in Saint-Médard, with several elected officials.
“
There will be the mayors concerned and the mayors of Médoc in general, because this project is of interest beyond the municipalities directly crossed
,” specifies the mayor of Saint-Médard-en-Jalles.
Among the configurations that this TER could take, the possibility of a vehicle running both on the rails and the tram lines is considered.
The Canaul study confirmed “
the relevance of a tram-train type project between Lacanau and Bordeaux
”, with different routes considered.
This train could for example leave from the tram D terminus in Eysines (Cantinolle) towards Lacanau.
If it proves impossible to connect the tram and the train on the same rails (in particular because of the tram's electrical power supply from the ground), a new dedicated station could be created next to this terminus.
Read alsoNear Bordeaux, a solar panel recycling site unique in the world
A new study carried out in 2024
The planned route will not be exactly the same, but it is in a way a reopening of the line, because a train was already running between Bordeaux and Lacanau, on the route of the current cycle path.
It was operated until 1954 for passengers and until 1978 for rail freight.
For this new TER line, the use of light trains (up to 90 km/h and 40 km/h in urban areas) would require fewer developments and would make it possible to avoid electrification of the line.
By the end of 2024, a first 100% electric autonomous TER over 80 kilometers will run in New Aquitaine, allowing up to 85% fewer CO2 emissions, according to SNCF.
An innovation that would lend itself well to this project.
“
It is becoming urgent to offer truly efficient public transport
,” says Stéphane Delpeyrat-Vincent.
“
Many people see part of their salary disappear in the daily car, particularly the lowest-income employees, who are the first to have to move away from the mainland because the prices are prohibitive for them.
It's a bit of a double whammy.
» After the study carried out by Lacanau, A'urba (Bordeaux Aquitaine town planning agency) will work in 2024 on the opportunity for this new link.
“
It will then remain to convince
” the future stakeholders of the project: the region and the metropolis.