Renovation of Gare du Nord: SNCF is considering terminating its partner's contract

Europe 1 with AFP 7:02 p.m., September 21, 2021

SNCF Gares & Connexions, a subsidiary of the railway company SNCF, is considering terminating the contract with its partner Ceetrus - the real estate company of the Auchan group - for the renovation of the Gare du Nord in Paris due to delays and budget drift, has learned Tuesday AFP from a source close to the case.

"The budgetary and planning drifts are not acceptable," said this source, while the group had chosen Ceetrus in July 2018 to triple the surface of the Parisian station in anticipation of the 2024 Olympic Games.

A cost tripled?

In a press release published at midday, SNCF Gares & Connexions estimated that "the transformation project of the Gare du Nord no longer seems to meet the conditions for completion provided for in the concession contract". "Accounts have been requested (…) on this worrying development and a decision will be taken very soon on the future of this concession," added the group.

The group said it had been warned in July of a slippage in the estimated cost of the work bringing the invoice to more than 1.5 billion euros, against 500 million still envisaged at the end of 2020, and of a "considerable delay" preventing them. to be completed by the 2024 Olympic Games. The concession was entrusted to SA Gare du Nord 2024 (StatioNord), a joint venture formed by SNCF Gares & Connexions (34%) and the Ceetrus company (66%), the latter being the actor responsible for the design, the works and their financing.

No official reaction from the town hall

Ceetrus, real estate company, recalls that the renovation project of the Gare du Nord has known since the establishment of the concession contract in February 2019, in addition to a pandemic, several changes and appeals having a lasting impact on its implementation. "Ceetrus respects and will respect its commitments of loyal cooperation towards its partner, foremost among which is vigilance on the conditions for carrying out an ambitious project serving residents, users and residents," responded the Auchan subsidiary in a brief press release sent to AFP, recalling that the project is "carried by two partners" co-concessionaires, itself and Gares & Connexions (34% shareholder).

After a long controversy with the mayor of Paris - which had yet approved the file originally - a less ambitious version of the project had been adopted in November 2020, which did not prevent the difficulties. Contacted by AFP, the town hall did not want to react immediately, saying they were waiting for a more definitive position from SNCF Gares & Connexions. Nicolas Bonnet-Oulaldj, head of the elected Parisian Communists, was delighted with what he sees as "the abandonment of the shopping center at the Gare du Nord", welcoming "a victory against a project which gave pride of place to the private sector to the detriment of users' needs ".