Freight trains will once once more run on the Mourepiane site (16th), overlooking the Saint-Henri and Saint-André districts. This is what the public inquiry report, unveiled this week and accessible online, states on the thorny project of “reconstructing the railway functionalities of Canet”. This station, the land of which was transferred to Euroméditerranée to install the future Aygalades park, must definitively close by the month of June.
It is the Mourepiane connection which must be rehabilitated to take over rail activity within two years. This section of rail, closed for around fifty years, provides a link between the SNCF lines and the port’s maritime service, to directly transport long freight trains to the Med Europe freight terminal. Ultimately, the return to service of this portion should encourage a reduction in the number of trucks on the roads in favor of rail, and a transfer of certain goods to Miramas to limit traffic in Marseille.
The Arenc station, already existing and in operation, had for a time been considered to replace the Canet before finally being ruled out. “Arenc would have been the ideal location but the site is not passable in the short term because long trains, which transport the most goods, cannot be accommodated there. The project as it was presented to us might have been improved, but given the deadlines and the challenges of this file, it corresponds to expectations and the opinion given is favorable“, presents Jacques Daligaux, the investigating commissioner on this file.
“Low incidences”
The public inquiry into this matter, which has been on the table for many years, began in November in a context of strong tensions between the SNCF and the Grand Port of Marseille, the project owners, and local residents formed into associations. Long opposed to this project which they consider dangerous and unsuitable, these residents of the northern districts were satisfied in 2015 with the abandonment of a first version.
Dejected by the news, local associations like certain neighborhood interest committees are this time considering “actions to contest the decision”. “We give ourselves time to digest but we won’t stop there“, promises Marie Prost, from the Cap au nord collective, who had contributed to the file which served as the basis for the public inquiry. Residents fear that the passage of trains under their windows and the intensification of piggybacking on the port – the combined transport of containers between trucks and trains – further degrade their living environment.
“The file suffers from gaps and inaccuracies regarding the measures to reduce the impact of the project, noise and especially atmospheric.“, recognizes the investigating commissioner in his report. Who nevertheless ensures that he has obtained guarantees in the sense of reducing risks for residents. Among which, the electrical connection of container ships in port, the decarbonization of locomotives, the ban on driving on diesel when passing through the Consolat city and the installation of a noise reduction device.
“The project is virtuous in principle“, et “contributes to the ecological transition“, still supports Jacques Daligaux. “Not approving it would have had deleterious consequences for residents, with an increase in road traffic. Making the movement of freight in Marseille impossible would have been irresponsible, we must give these developments a chances”, continues the investigating commissioner. “We have understood the concerns of local residents but the impacts of this project, revised downwards in terms of scale compared to 2015, will ultimately be very low.“, tempers Jacques Daligaux.
Monitoring committee
To reassure local residents, control the transition period during the work in Mourepiane, and ensure that the project owners’ commitments are kept, a monitoring committee must very soon be set up. Committee in which the City must participate. “A point of balance has been found and this is good news for the 15th and 16th arrondissements. We must not think on the scale of neighborhoods but on the scale of territories. We will ensure that everything happens in the best conditions“, predicts Nadia Boulainseur, the mayor (DVG) of the sector, support of the project in its current version.
Work should begin by the end of the year and trains should, in the meantime, pass through Arenc, at the risk of friction between freight and passenger lines. “All stakeholders must remain vigilant“, warns Jacques Daliguaux. No doubt that the residents will be.
Perhaps, in the long term, they will be able to console themselves with this green flow on the late Canet station, long promised as part of this overhaul of the northern districts.
