Info BFM Paris Île-de-France – The first two CDG Express trains left the factory last September according to elected Communists. Two more should follow in the coming weeks.
The communist administrators of Ile-de-France Mobilités (IDFM) want to “requisition” the CDG Express trains to circulate them on the RER B, learned BFM Paris Ile-de-France, according to a press release from the communist group /ecologist from the Ile-de-France region.
The line connecting the Ile-de-France airport to the center of the capital is at the heart of many disputes. Some left-wing elected officials believe that the CDG Express is “a train project for the rich” and is being done to the detriment of the works and train renewals that have become necessary on the RER B.
After many legal adventures, the Administrative Court of Appeal of Paris ruled in April 2022 on the merits and validated the resumption of work on this train which should enter service in 2027.
Soon four trains out of 13 delivered
But not enough to extinguish the controversy. This Wednesday, elected Communists, including some IDFM administrators, ensure that two CDG Express trains left the factory last September.
“Four years ahead of the new timetable for the commissioning of the train for the rich, now scheduled for 2027, two of the 13 trains were delivered in September 2022 and two others are regarding to be delivered”, detail- they.
“While the renovation of the current trains on line B, the MI 79, is turning into a fiasco and the arrival of new trains will probably not take place before 2028 on the RER B, learning that brand new trains are ready for the train of the rich is revolting”, explain the elected Communists.
In the press release, they recall that the regularity of the RER B has been collapsing since 2015, “going from 90% punctuality to 85.7% in 2022”.
An amendment tabled
The announcement of new trains for the CDG Express does not pass. For the elected communists, “this is yet another materialization of years of contempt for users of line B, the busiest in Europe following RER A”.
The latter will therefore table an amendment on Thursday for the next IDFM board of directors to be held on February 13. “This will force the president of Ile-de-France Mobilités, Valérie Pécresse, to position herself while she strongly supported the realization of CDG Express”, they judge.
“We ask that the trains dedicated to the train of the rich be requisitioned and assigned to the RER B as soon as possible”.
The elected officials believe that this will improve the transport conditions for users of the line, “pending the new MI 20 trains”.