The Railcoop cooperative, which wanted to relaunch the rail link between Bordeaux and Lyon, announced on Wednesday
“with the greatest regret”
its upcoming liquidation, after a judgment which places an
“unsustainable”
debt on it .
“The plan planned to exit legal receivership is now obsolete. As it stands, the Cahors commercial court should have no other choice than to pronounce, on April 15, 2024, the liquidation of our cooperative
,” Railcoop indicated in a message to its members.
Insufficient funds raised
Founded in 2019, the cooperative with 14,500 members set itself the objective of launching a transverse rail link between Bordeaux and Lyon via Périgueux, Limoges, Montluçon and Roanne.
Initially planned for the summer of 2022, the launch had been delayed several times, and it was still recently counting on the second half of 2024.
It had sought throughout the summer of 2023 to raise an additional 500,000 euros from its members to pay the salaries and invoices of its suppliers.
But at the end of September, it had only raised 383,500 euros, forcing it to open collective proceedings before the commercial court, given its lack of funds.
880,000 euros in “garage costs”
Railcoop was placed in receivership in mid-October, which opened a six-month period to find capital to guarantee the continuation of its activity.
The cooperative had in particular planned to sell two trainsets - purchased second-hand from the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region -, stored by the company ACC M, a specialist in the restoration of railway equipment, on its Clermont-Ferrand site, she explained on Wednesday.
But ACC M
“claimed 880,000 euros from us in garage costs, in addition to the 350,000 euros already paid for carrying out the audit of the trains (which was not completed)
,” said Railcoop.
In this dispute, the Clermont-Ferrand commercial court
“has just (...) ruled in favor on March 21”
of ACC M.
“By this decision, the court prevents us from proceeding with the sale of the two trains (which was signed), cuts us off from all sources of short-term financing, and makes us carry a new, unsustainable debt
,” noted Railcoop.
“This incomprehensible court decision seals the fate of Railcoop. (...) It is with the greatest regret that we send you this message, after months spent together fighting, to avoid the end of our great collective adventure
,” concluded the cooperative.