Interrupted for two years for lack of customers and due to the obsolescence of the equipment, the early bird train between Perpignan and Rungis is back on track this Friday.
Since its closure, the train had been replaced by trucks on the highways.
Of the 80 wagons of the fruit and vegetable train, 34 could be refitted, making it possible to have convoys of 12 wagons each.
The account is not there, for the CGT.
Interrupted for two years, due to lack of customers and due to the obsolescence of the equipment, the primeur train between Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales) and Rungis (Val-de-Marne) is back on track this Friday afternoon.
The Prime Minister, Jean Castex, will attend the relaunch of this link.
The first train should leave the Saint-Charles market in Perpignan at 4:28 pm, to arrive in Rungis on Saturday at 3:08 am.
Since its closure in 2019, the train had been replaced by trucks, launched on the highways.
“Between 25,000 and 40,000 per year, estimated with
20 Minutes,
on September 27, Thomas Portes, the collective Sauvons le train Perpignan / Rungis.
When the early bird train is not running, 44 tonnes of CO2 are released into the atmosphere every day.
»Against barely 3 tonnes, approximately, for the freight line.
The "hard law of the market"
“It was the harsh law of the market that applied, and it was very harsh, because the prices of the road are unbeatable.
The train was not subsidized ”, explains Frédéric Delorme, president of Rail Logistics Europe, a rail freight subsidiary of SNCF.
On the side of the CGT, if the return of the primeurs train is a "victory", the account is not there.
“The acts do not correspond to the commitments, nor to the fine words, of our leaders, scolded in September the CGT of the railway workers of Perpignan.
We learn that only 12 cars will be dedicated to this train daily.
The new link will in fact operate with trains that are half as long.
Of the 80 wagons, 34 could be overhauled, making it possible to have convoys of 12 wagons each.
Rail Logistics Europe was chosen to take over the reins of the early bird train, with a project also including the creation of a "rail motorway", loading semi-trailers and containers onto trains, from Boulou (Pyrenees -Orientales) at the port of Gennevilliers (Hauts-de-Seine), by the end of the year.
“It costs more than the road and that's why a subsidy is needed, but the ecological benefits justify this subsidy,” explains Frédéric Delorme.
The subsidy reaches 14 million euros over the duration of the agreement until the end of 2024, according to Matignon.
Society
Perpignan: The primeurs train to Rungis will be put back into service on October 21
Planet
Perpignan: Why the return of the primeurs train is good news for the environment
Languedoc-Roussillon
Train
Freight
Fruits and vegetables
Perpignan
Rungis
Economy