Towards the creation of a Metropolitan Express Service in Rouen
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By: Bernard Collardey
Three Norman associations defending rail, including SOSGares, faced with endemic road congestion in the Rouen conurbation at rush hour on the three main road routes converging on the city (Sud III, A 150 and Grand-Mare tunnel) have imagined a small RER project which is in line with the orientations of the State and the Normandy region. It is based on ecology, economy and practicality, combining speed, capacity with price integration and close connections with other means of transport, in particular the Tip metro network and Teor bus, and should not require an unreasonable budget. The authors aim for an increase in public transport journeys in the conurbation of around 30% by 2030.
The idea is based on the creation of three lines, two of which already exist:
• fully electrified line A from Yvetot to Elbeuf-Saint-Aubin via Rouen-Rive-Droite with new stops at Fond-de-Val downstream of Maromme, near the Mont-Saint-Aignan university campus and Cléon automobile headquarters Renault, with service extended to half-hour peak hours and adaptation of current stations for the rest in progress;
• line B from Clères on the line from Dieppe to Serqueux on that of Amiens via Rouen-Rive-Droite, requiring the electrification of the short double-track route Malaunay – Clères (12 km) and the reopening of stations closed for a long time dates as from Darnétal, Saint-Martin-du-Vivier and Isneauville;
• line C from Rouen-Saint-Sever to Elbeuf-Ville (northern link of the former line from Rouen to Orléans) where omnibus traffic ceased in 1965. Its construction would be significantly more complicated to achieve with major works over the course of 23 km.
It would reuse the partially double-track freight section under catenary up to Petit-Couronne currently used by whole trains of cereals, aggregates from Sotteville to the industrial sites on the left bank of the Port of Rouen, but would lead to electrification and rehabilitation of the 14 km section in the Londe forest out of service up to Elbeuf-Ville station, which contains three successive tunnels.
In addition to the Saint-Sever terminus called in the future to accommodate the project for the new Paris – Normandy line (LNPN), several stations or halts would be created in Flaubert (Rouen – Orléans) to serve the eponymous eco-district under construction. , Petit-Quevilly, Centre-Commercial-Bois-Cany, Val-de-Seine, Petit-Couronne and Grand-Couronne. Given the scale of the work, a first stage could concern the Saint-Sever – Petit-Couronne section.
The Normandy region, the State and the Metropolis of Rouen will finance the opportunity studies of this SEM, which could germinate in other large French localities. Carried out under the project management of SNCF Réseau, they should validate alternative solutions for the development of services to peri-urban areas. I