The FNAUT deplores the degradation of the Lyon-Barcelona rail link
The abolition of the direct Lyon – Barcelona train is an unacceptable decision by the SNCF for the FNAUT Auvergne Rhône-Alpes.
Since December 2013, it was impossible to travel every day between Lyon and Barcelona by direct train in 5 hours. The schedules have always been the same with: un departure from Barcelona at 8:15 a.m. for an arrival at 1:20 p.m. in Lyon Part-Dieu; youn departure from Lyon Part-Dieu at 2:35 p.m. for an arrival in Barcelona at 7:32 p.m. These trains serve Valence TGV, Nîmes, Montpellier, Narbonne, Perpignan, Figueres and Girona. They are carried out by an alliance between SNCF and RENFE.
“Unilaterally in February 2022, SNCF announced the end of its alliance with RENFE. The French company centered on Paris has decided to operate solo for the 2023 service only 2 daily round trips between Paris and Barcelona (without stops between the capital and Valence TGV) by abandoning the connection between Barcelona and Lyon, the 2th agglomeration of France!” explains the FNAUT Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The SNCF has not even planned connections at Valence TGV for its Lyon customers. In less than a month, it will therefore be impossible to connect Lyon to Barcelona by train. Travelers will have to use the car, car or plane with degraded carbon footprints.
The FNAUT regrets that the Spanish company is not able to resume the Lyon – Barcelona link from December 2022, despite its commitments. Indeed, the Spanish company has no security certificate and no circular driver between Lyon and Perpignan. Only its equipment is approved as far as Lyon, from the common SNCF-RENFE service. The abolition of the direct Lyon – Barcelona train leads to the abolition of the daily service between Lyon and Perpignan , except for trains on Fridays and Saturdays departing from Lyon at 8:10 p.m. and on weekends at 7:08 a.m. from Perpignan.
The Lyon and Languedoc-Roussillon service is also degraded with 3 daily round trips instead of 4 between Lyon and Narbonne; 3 hours without TGV from Lyon between 2.10 p.m. and 5.10 p.m. (4.40 p.m. on Sundays) for Valence TGV, Nîmes and Montpellier, and 4 hours without TGV on arrival in Lyon between 11:50 a.m. and 3:50 p.m. (except weekends) from Montpellier, Nîmes and Valence TGV.
The FNAUT Auvergne Rhône-Alpes asks the Minister of Transport to seize rail services between our Region, the Pyrénées Orientales and Catalonia. It calls for the maintenance of direct trains between Lyon and Barcelona, with end-to-end SNCF operation or from Lyon to Perpignan and RENFE from Perpignan to Barcelona. It requests the addition of stops at Saint-Exupéry or Lyon Part-Dieu on the TGV Paris – Barcelona. It calls for the coupling of a train for Perpignan on one of the 3 AR Lyon – Toulouse, and the establishment from the 2024 service of a Geneva – Barcelona link.