New tensions have erupted between the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolitan Authority and the South Region, on the sidelines of the metropolitan council on June 8. On the table: the possible repercussions of the loss of the Winter Olympics on one of the flagship projects of the New Provence Côte d’Azur Line (LNCPA).
The Mayor of Nice Eric Ciotti delivered a violent tirade against the Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot and, by extension, the South Region, presided over by Renaud Muselier, during the metropolitan council on June 8. The repercussions of the loss of the Winter Olympics on the construction of the new Nice Airport station, scheduled for 2029, constitute the starting point of this latest episode of friction.
No Games, no station?
While a report on the progress of the LNPCA project was being examined at the metropolitan council, Eric Ciotti declared that threats had been made regarding the implementation of his flagship project: the new Nice Airport station, a major project bringing together TGV, TER, tramway and bus station. By making the Olympics and the Nice Airport station work as a package, Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot allegedly suggested that the station project would not happen if Nice did not host the Olympic ice events as planned.
“I find these methods scandalous and almost mafia-like” (…) “to say that because we wouldn’t have the Olympics, we wouldn’t have the Nice Airport station or the TER, that’s shameful and scandalous. It’s unworthy of people who hold public office and are responsible for the general interest, not their own,” said the Mayor of Nice during the metropolitan council.
The official added: “It’s scandalous for Mr. Tabarot” (…) “who constantly played against the territory. He opposed us having trains for OGC Nice supporters in Paris” [for the French Cup final], he opposed the Olympics, and now threatens the New Provence Côte d’Azur Line project.”
A former senator from the Alpes-Maritimes, the Transport Minister born in Cannes had criticized the Mayor of Nice a few days earlier, declaring that he had “spoiled the celebration for thousands, millions of children” by refusing the Winter Games to take place at the Allianz Riviera. “Fortunately these are people at the end of their mandate,” said Mayor Eric Ciotti at the end of his tirade, referring to the mandate of Regional President Renaud Muselier which will end at the latest in 2028, or sooner in the event of a Senate election victory.
Pressure eases on the construction site
Confronted, Renaud Muselier was quick to respond to his opponent’s attacks. In a press release soberly entitled “another derailment for Eric Ciotti,” the latter announced that the Mayor of Nice “once again attempted to hide his responsibilities and made serious and defamatory accusations against the South Region and its President.”
The Regional President took the opportunity to renew his support for the city of Nice and reassure on the commitment to implement the project: “the Region remains a solid support for Nice and the Alpes-Maritimes, and this is particularly true in terms of transport” (…) “We have always supported LNPCA and the Nice Airport station. We regret that Eric Ciotti’s decision (to renounce the Olympics, editor’s note) deprives us of the means to accelerate the project and secure its financing,” he said officially yesterday at the end of the day.
The Regional Council President rules out any abandonment of the new station project, and instead highlights the fact that by renouncing the Games, Eric Ciotti deprived the project of the famous “Olympic lever“ — a lever that would have allowed “the acceleration of the construction schedule,” originally designed “to coincide with hosting the Games in Nice” in winter 2030.
So “even if it doesn’t call the project into question, the loss of the Games will necessarily lead to a relaxation of the pressure to deliver the infrastructure in December 2029,” Renaud Muselier anticipates. The new Nice Airport station project includes “work on tracks and at the station that should allow us to eventually go from a TER every 15 minutes to a TER every 10 minutes,” according to him. A new frequency that would benefit everyone.
Philippe Tabarot had nonetheless shown his commitment publicly a few days earlier: “I hope we can still carry out the project. As long as I’m at the ministry, it will be the case,” he stated on Europe 1 on Friday, June 5. For the construction of the new station, without the Games, the schedule is likely to be relaxed.
Contradictions pointed out
The Regional President also raises an inconsistency, noting in his statement that it is “surprising to accuse the Region of pressure on the project when we know that the RN and UDR elected officials sitting in the Region have always voted against the LNPCA“. According to him, “the Mayor of Nice, the UDR and their RN allies (…) have always opposed” this territorial project. Also “it’s not the Region or the government that play against the territory but Eric Ciotti and his allies, and it’s starting to show!”
Who is lying, who is telling the truth… One thing is certain, with the Games, the construction of “France’s largest multimodal station,” according to the Transport Minister would have been pampered and delivered on time. Without them, the construction of the Nice Airport station risks taking longer to see the light of day.
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