As widely announced, the report from the Mobility Commission 21 on transport infrastructure projects, appointed by the government in July 2012, has made its proposals and confirmed that the Nice-Marseille high-speed rail line was not included.
Local political leaders unanimously condemn this decision and call for government arbitration. While Patrick Allemand undertakes to raise awareness with the Prime Minister to review the proposal, the Estrosi-Ciotti duo is considering a more forceful reaction.
After listening to Eric Ciotti during a General Council session calling on voters to sanction the socialists during the 2014 municipal and 2015 regional elections by advocating the defeat of Michel Vauzelle, one can imagine that heavy artillery will be used during today’s press conference.
As they say in these cases, it’s best not to waste any time!
For Patrick Allemand: “I can only express my disappointment and anger upon learning that the Mobility Commission 21 could not prioritize the entire new rail line project between Nice and Marseille.
In fact, in the first scenario where between 8 and 10 billion euros would be invested by 2030, only the underground passage of Marseille Saint Charles station and the Huveaune valley were selected.
It is only in the second more ambitious scenario (between 28 and 30 billion euros) that the entirety of the new rail line could be considered before 2030, which would be a very assertive scenario given the current budgetary context.
Thus, the open-up of Nice by high speed, after being sacrificed in the 1990s by a right that was unable to agree on a route, finds itself a generation later, delayed again by the public finance crisis, inherited from a Sarkozist right that added 600 billion more to the deficit.
Nevertheless, since this concerns only the report of a commission, the final decision belongs to the discretion of the Prime Minister, I am going to write to Jean-Marc AYRAULT, emphasizing certain arguments, advocating in favor of this important project for Nice.
Eric Ciotti and Christian Estrosi further drive the point home: “We note that Marseille and the Bouches-du-Rhône are once again given priority in transport infrastructure over Nice and the Alpes Maritimes.
Nice, the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis, and the Alpes-Maritimes department are the most underserved territories in France by the national rail network and constitute the only densely populated urban area that is isolated. This was also pointed out by the president of the Mobility Commission 21, Philippe Duron, during his visit to Nice on April 25.
The Côte d’Azur is the second TER network in France after the Ile-de-France. Marseille, already benefiting from the high-speed line since 2001, will again receive significant investments through this new rail line.
The insufficiency of infrastructure, the isolation of the Côte d’Azur, and the saturation of the entire transport network of the Alpes Maritimes are facts. It is unacceptable that the Côte d’Azur, its businesses, and its residents are not treated as a priority, on par with Marseille. This is a huge disadvantage for the population, which finds itself more excluded than ever from the Government’s priorities and completely isolated from the rest of the French territory.
To date, the General Council of Alpes-Maritimes and the Metropolis have committed several million euros for feasibility study costs. Of course, we will not contribute further to preliminary studies and public inquiries and demand a full reimbursement of the amounts committed. We will not accept that the taxpayer money from the Riviera benefits only the redevelopment of the Saint-Charles station in Marseille instead of building the Nice – Le Muy section.
We have repeatedly stated that the Nice – Le Muy section is a local, national, and international issue. This section holds potential for significant economic and tourist growth for the Alpes-Maritimes department, which hosts 11 million visitors per year. If it confirms the recommendations of the Mobility Commission 21, the Government will deprive the department’s residents of a project essential to its development.”
