View of the metro line b tunnel in the future Gares station. - J. Gicquel / 20 Minutes

  • Stopped since March 16, the construction site of line B of the Rennes metro resumed on Monday.
  • New regulations have been established to ensure the health and safety of workers.
  • Initially scheduled for December 21, the commissioning of line B will not take place for a year.

After seven years of work, the construction site of line B of the Rennes metro was entering its last straight line. But the coronavirus crisis has arisen in the meantime, overturning all plans. Stopped on March 16, work has just resumed on Monday. But inevitably the pace is no longer and will not be the same as before the start of the crisis. "This is restarting very gradually", underlines Xavier Tirel, the general manager of Semtcar, the mixed economy company which manages the site.

After a total halt on March 16, the work on the #ligneb du # métro #Rennes resumes today, in a strict sanitary framework, with fewer people working on the sites and a gradual ramp-up #IciRennes> https: / /t.co/Vduhd8iX2G pic.twitter.com/3lHB8jZTdK

- metropolerennes (@metropolerennes) May 4, 2020

Before the workers returned underground, it was first necessary to establish new site regulations with the companies concerned to ensure the safety and health of the workers. "The living bases have been adapted with the condemnation of one out of two cloakrooms and the layout of the catering areas," explains Xavier Tirel. A new route plan will also be put in place in order to respect the safety distances ”.

Only one authorized company per zone

All this week, workers will therefore have to familiarize themselves with this new health protocol on site. Of course, not everyone will find the site at the same time. “Before the works stopped, there were between 350 and 400 people working on the site, says the general manager of Semtcar. For the recovery, we will start with 70 or 80 workers before gradually increasing. ”

To do this, Semtcar has planned to adopt a “zoning” strategy with a single authorized company per zone to avoid co-activity. "We will also work on the hourly amplitude with certain companies which will start earlier and others which will end later", specifies Xavier Tirel.

Commissioning scheduled for spring 2021

As an inevitable consequence of this forced shutdown of the site for two months, the entry into service of line B of the metro will not take place on December 21, 2020 as planned. It will also take time for the site to regain its cruising speed. "This new way of working will necessarily cause an additional delay that we are assuming," underlines Emmanuel Couet, president of Rennes Métropole, adding that the commissioning of line B is now envisaged "in spring 2021".

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