Long-awaited, the commissioning of line B of the Rennes metro will take place on September 20.
Throughout the summer, the Siemens teams will continue with the adjustments so that everything will be operational in three months.
The opening could have taken place on September 1st but the elected officials preferred to play it safe in order to avoid the rush of the start of the school year.
It's a journey into the future that was offered to us this Wednesday at the end of the morning.
Two and a half years late, we finally had the privilege of taking line B of the Rennes metro.
During an express journey between the Sainte-Anne and ViaSilva stations, elected officials and journalists were able to appreciate the comfort of the new trains.
But also experience a certain sensation of speed compared to line A, even if the manufacturer Siemens ensures that the pace will be the same on both lines.
Welcome aboard line B of the Rennes metro.
It shakes a bit but it works pic.twitter.com/j5mUtefRLw
— 20 Minutes Rennes (@20minutesrennes) June 15, 2022
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For the people of Rennes, however, they will have to wait another three months before being able to take Line B of the Rennes metro, which will start running on Tuesday September 20 at 5:15 a.m.
In May, on the announcement of yet another postponement, Siemens Mobility France still hoped to be able to “hand over the keys at the end of June”.
Nothing will happen.
Because line B is not yet fully operational.
If the last technical difficulties, such as the abnormal wear of the guide rollers and the problem of "waking up" of the trains when leaving the terminus, have been resolved, there are still a few points to be settled.
“The safety file has been submitted and the few remaining reservations should be able to be lifted at the beginning of July”, indicates Nathalie Appéré, mayor of Rennes.
A start in degraded mode not desired
But it is above all the number of trains available that prompted the elected officials and the manufacturer to be cautious.
To date, 17 are already operational while adjustments are still in progress on four others.
“Even if the system is the same, each new train requires adjustments,” explains Stéphane Bayon de Noyer, project manager at Siemens.
With 21 trains ready simultaneously, line B would have been able to run in degraded mode during the summer.
And hop, we go outside towards the terminus of line B Cesson-Via Silva pic.twitter.com/xd3pBmOxDX
— 20 Minutes Rennes (@20minutesrennes) June 15, 2022
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But this option was not favored by elected officials.
“We could have lowered the frequency of the trains or reduced the timetables by only opening in the morning or in the afternoon, specifies Nathalie Appéré.
But in view of the expectations, it seemed desirable to us to have an optimal functioning and level of performance from the start”.
In July, three new trains will also join the fleet, again requiring several weeks of adjustment, while the last train will be delivered in October.
Avoid the rush of the first half of September
Technically, the commissioning of line B would have been “conceivable” on September 1, the day of the start of the school year.
But here too, the elected officials preferred to play the watch.
“We know that the first half of September is a busy period with the start of the school year which generally leads to a peak in attendance, underlines the president of the metropolis.
We therefore chose a slightly less tense period for the commissioning”.
Falling on a Tuesday, the opening of line B will of course be much less festive than that of line A, inaugurated with great fanfare for a whole weekend in March 2002. "But this festive time will take place with a period of free and an official inauguration”, emphasizes Nathalie Appéré, keeping the program of festivities secret.
"But that's secondary, the most important thing is that everything works on September 20".
reindeer
Rennes: Soon a free electric shuttle in the city center
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In Rennes, residents of line B desperate for postponements
The new bus network deployed on October 24
Delayed several times, the commissioning of line B of the metro has turned the entire schedule of the new transport plan for the Rennes area upside down.
The redeployment of the bus network will thus only take place from 24 October.
The implementation of the limited traffic zone, which will drastically reduce car traffic in the city center, has been postponed until February.
Brittany
Transportation
Subway
Line B
Nathalie Appere
Siemens
reindeer