Emmanuel Macron made a strong and unexpected announcement on Sunday evening: the objective of developing RER-type daily rail transport in ten French cities in order to promote ecological transition. In other words, larger and better-paced TER trains, every quarter of an hour or every half hour, to reach the big city. No announced timetable or figures on the necessary investments, just political impetus. Decryption with Toulouse sauce.

What would an RER be in Toulouse?

Quite simply, more and larger regional trains, ideally running every quarter of an hour, or even every half hour, over a large time slot, such as 6am-midnight. What exists today, for example between Toulouse and Muret, are TER trains every 20-30 minutes but only during rush hour in the morning (7-9 a.m.) and in the evening (5-7 p.m.). The idea is not to replace the existing TERs but to complete the offer by increasing the density of the service to the inner suburbs, therefore RER to connect Toulouse to, for example, Castelnau d’Estrétefonds, Venerque, Pibrac, Montgiscard, Gragnague, etc. These are assumptions.

What would these RERs be used for?

Clearing the road network of course. The population growth
of the Toulouse conurbation (one million inhabitants in 2050, against 800,000 today) is not going to improve things. Nearly 90% of working people in the conurbation who travel between home and work every day use their car. But by January 1, 2024, nearly 50,000 cars could no longer drive in Toulouse because of the ZFE. The number of train users can therefore potentially explode.

What are we waiting for to set up these RER in Toulouse?

This is a very technical and very political subject. A matter of priority, you might say. For a long time, the chosen ones fought over the LGV Bordeaux-Toulouse before agreeing on the fact that the development of the line for the TGV will also make it possible to make circular RER in the north of Toulouse. Then, at the Capitole, Jean-Luc Moudenc thought for a long time that it was better to do the 3rd metro line. The president of Toulouse Métropole said again this summer that the Toulouse metro concerned three times more travelers than the entire TER network in Occitania. In the meantime, on October 20, the Métropole voted unanimously for a wish that supports the implementation of concrete progress on the RER.

And who would finance these Toulouse RER?

We are not there yet but we can imagine that the usual institutional players will be around the table: Tisséo, the Occitanie Region, the SNCF, the State. The Department of Haute-Garonne is in favor of the concept, we can bet that it will be there. Regarding Toulouse Métropole, Jean-Luc Moudenc said that no euro would be spent on the RER. We will have to see later if its position changes, perhaps reversed via the conurbation’s contribution to Tisséo.

What to change Emmanuel Macron’s announcement?

The impetus of the state was precisely missing. If not very precise, the President’s announcement on Sunday in a way validates the fact that this will happen, but it is the turn of the local actors to agree. Memories of the LGV Toulouse Bordeaux. It took the very official announcement of Jean Castex
at the time to finally make the sea serpent concrete. We also saw that it was a very long road for everyone to agree on funding.

When would we see these RER in Toulouse?

It depends on what we are talking about. There is a short-termist reading, which is defended the association Rekindle the star
, which advocates improving the existing network. On the Colomiers-les Arènes axis, for example, from 2024 it would be possible without works to make a circular RER every half hour between 6 a.m. and midnight.

Are the other metropolises more advanced?

Often priced as an example, Strasbourg should test from mid-December a more regular timing of its TER
.120 trains will be added each day between Strasbourg and its outskirts, i.e. an offer increased by 60% on weekdays. This is possible thanks to funding of 14 million euros, provided equally between the Grand-Est region and the metropolis of Strasbourg.