Rail traffic between Nevers and Dijon will be cut from July 10, 2023 to February 16, 2024
During this meeting, details and explanations were given on this most substantial project, providing the first answers to the many questions it raises.
Time saving ?
The regeneration of this track will not save time between Nevers and Dijon. “The objective is for the current time to remain, not for it to be faster,” insists Michel Neugnot. Or, it is one of the wishes of the FNAUT and the Collectif Nevers-Dijon in two hours. Jérôme Grand adds: “to save time between Nevers and Dijon, you have to either remove stops, there are currently eleven, or remove level crossings, or put straighter tracks where there are curves. This regeneration is a prerequisite. You need a good route to, in a second step, improve the travel time. »
Why isn’t the work done at night?
Many wonder why they are not done at night? SNCF Réseau replies: “Works carried out during the day cost 30% less, ie savings of around 40 million euros on this programme. »
Why seven months?
The works between Chagny and Montchanin are carried out with a one kilometer long rapid suite (factory train). “Its use requires closing both lanes of traffic. One on which we remove everything and the other to recover what is removed,” explains Jérôme Grand. “Today, there is no solution to go faster. »
prime Started in July, the construction site on the SNCF Nevers-Dijon line will last 9 months
Substitute transport
They are done by bus. As Bruno Delatorre, director of the Bourgogne Ouest line for SNCF Réseau, explained, “we are working with the Region on the needs to be put in place. A public tender has been launched and a transport plan should be presented at the end of the first quarter of 2023”. Cédric Journeau, president of the FNAUT of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, is delighted that his association is involved in this consultation. The need to transport passengers on this line is 60 buses per day.
Why do this work?
SNCF Réseau explains it: the average age of track components is 30 years between Nevers and Montchanin and 50 years between Montchanin and Chagny. There is a risk of severe slowdowns lowering traffic to 30 or 40 km/h instead of the current 80 to 140 km/h, i.e. an increase in travel time of 15 to 20 minutes, and a stoppage of traffic for safety reasons for the Etang-sur-Arroux railroad bridge. This will be replaced between February and December 2023. Cost: 8.7 million euros. This specific project contributes to maintaining the line.
Traffic interruptions
SNCF Réseau specifies the traffic interruptions, on this Nevers/Dijon axis, the time of the regeneration of the tracks and the various developments.
Nevers-Banlay station section. The line will be closed to train traffic from Monday July 10, 2023 to Saturday September 2, 2023 inclusive.
Le Banlay-Montchanin section. The line will be closed to all traffic from Monday July 10, 2023 to Friday December 22, 2023 inclusive. It is possible that some trains will be put back into circulation at the end of this phase.
Montchanin-Chagny section. It is on this portion of 25 kilometers in one direction and therefore 25 in the other, that the work will be the most substantial, from Monday July 10, 2023 to Friday February 16, 2024 inclusive, hence the strong impact on the whole of this Nevers/Dijon line. A portion which, on its own, mobilizes 68 million euros out of the total cost of the site of 137 million euros. The SNCF network specifies in particular, in its desire for sustainable development and circular economy, that 35,000 tonnes of ballast from the Paris/Lyon high-speed line, i.e. 30% of the site, will be recovered for this site. 5,000 tonnes of rails (i.e. 100 kilometres), recycled in steelworks, will also be reused. An axis on which standardization work will be carried out in the stations of Cheilly-les-Maranges, Santenay and Saint-Léger-sur-Dheune.
Circular economy
On this section, 100,000 tons of ballast, 100 kilometers of rails and 85,000 crossings will be renewed. Also included in the global budget, among other things, are hydraulic works and the repair of service roads.
During these works on the various sections, level crossings will be closed depending on the progress of the work. Road diversions will be discussed with local authorities at the end of January 2023.
Some numbers
137: in millions of euros, amount of investments made, including 62 co-financed by the State (35 million euros) and the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Region (27 million euros) and 75 by SNCF Réseau.
121: total kilometers of track renewed.
104,000: number of crossings renewed.
168,000: tons of ballast that will be renewed.
550: number of people mobilized over the duration of the project.
Denis Chaumereuil