• The metropolis of Montpellier has decided to build an 8.5 km cycle path on an old railway line, between Saint-Jean-de-Védas and Fabrègues.

  • Alenka Doulain (Nupes) would have preferred the train line to be reactivated.

  • Reactivating a train line, "is the competence of the State of the SNCF", recalls the metropolis.

    And the cost of its restoration would be “very significant”.

    “The role of the metropolis is to find mobility alternatives.

    »

No train has circulated for fifty years between Saint-Jean-de-Védas and Fabrègues (Hérault).

Between these two communes of the metropolis of Montpellier, the old railway line, disused, is plagued by vegetation.

The community has decided to take this little path out of its peaceful retirement, not by reactivating the SNCF line, but by creating a new cycle path there.

Or rather, a cycle highway, some 8.5 km long.

This new link will serve, in particular, the Ray-Charles middle school, the future Cournonterral high school, the Saint-Jean and Saint-Roch clinics and the Garosud, Mas de Grille, Grisettes and Sabines districts, considerably reducing cycle time. .

"We want to allow everyone to get around by bike with complete peace of mind and with as many specific facilities as possible linking the hearts of the municipalities to the heart of the metropolis as far as the Place de la Comédie, but also the municipalities of the territory between them, indicates Michaël Delafosse (PS), the mayor and president of the metropolis.

Eventually, the Express Bike Network will consist of approximately 235 km of linear.

»

Put “on the rails of trains, more than bicycles”

In the ranks of the opposition, Alenka Doulain (Nupes) would have preferred, rather than a new cycle path, that the train line between the two villages be reopened.

For the elected, this project carried by the metropolis is nothing other than a "tomb for the train".

“This railway line was the one connecting Bédarieux to Montpellier, deplores Alenka Doulain.

It allowed, for example, to reach Montpellier-Centre from Cournonterral in twenty-one minutes.

At a time of permanent congestion, we need to rediscover the ambition and common sense of our elders by putting trains on the rails, more than bicycles.

The reopening of small lines is the future of transport: 90% of French people live less than 10 km from a station.

This line is strategic.

“For the elected official, “an extension of the tramway to Fabrègues, or even to the Gigean / Montbazin station, must be considered”, and “studies on the return of the Montpellier-Bédarieux line must be launched”.

OUR BIKE FILE

Reactivating an old train line, “is the responsibility of the SNCF State, recalls the metropolis of Montpellier, questioned by

20 Minutes

on this subject.

The line has been closed for fifty years”, and the cost of its restoration would be “very important”.

“The role of the metropolis is to find mobility alternatives, such as the development of the bicycle, but also the tramway or the bustrams.

This “bicycle line” between Fabrègues and Saint-Jean-de-Védas will not cost the community a penny, thanks to “the upgrading of the steel rails”, which fully finance the work.

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