The primeurs train (Archives) -

LE BRUN BENJAMIN / SIPA

The government launched on Tuesday a call for expressions of interest for the resumption by summer 2021 of the "primeurs train", a link between Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales) and Rungis (Val-de-Marne) which allows the transport of fruit and vegetables in refrigerated wagons.

The train has been stationary since summer 2019.

"The health crisis has underlined the absolute need to have food supply circuits that are fast, efficient and sustainable," said the Ministry of Transport on Tuesday in a press release.

The government thus says that it has "undertaken to implement all actions for the resumption of a rail freight service between, on the one hand, the Perpignan / Saint-Charles market and its region, and, another, the market of national interest (MIN) of Rungis, which allows in particular the delivery of fresh / early produce under controlled temperature ”, it is indicated.

Applications must be submitted before January 29

This service represents a traffic of about 9,000 trucks per year, recalls the Ministry of Transport.

The link had been suspended due to a drop in volumes transported and the dilapidated condition of the wagons, despite the fight of elected officials and unions.

Applications must be submitted by January 29 at the latest.

The consultation is "very open in order to allow the actors to propose all types of solutions and to bring out the best possible project".

“With a view to rapid recovery, the State is ready to grant public financial support at start-up if necessary.

The line could evolve in the long term to be part of the ambition of the recovery plan consisting in creating several new rail motorways, in particular between Dunkirk and Barcelona ”, specifies the ministry.

For its part, the group Sauvons le train Perpignan Rungis qualifies this call as "useless".

“Why not use the railway workers and the existing equipment.

This line must be 100% public and under full management of the SNCF, ”notes the collective, which indicates, moreover, that the traffic does not represent 9,000 trucks per year.

“Field workers and studies assure that this figure is between 30,000 and 40,000 per year.

And the line did not stop, it was destroyed by the government and the SNCF.

"

We discover this morning that the government is launching a call for demonstrations to relaunch the Perpignan Rungis line.

It is, however, unnecessary.

Why not use the railway workers and the existing equipment?

This line must be 100% public and under full management of the #SNCF

- Save the Perpignan Rungis train (@LePerpiRungis) December 15, 2020

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  • Rungis

  • Languedoc-Roussillon

  • Economy

  • Transport

  • Train

  • Perpignan

  • Fruits and vegetables