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Interview with Christian Estrosi:

“A real regional RER train service” between Cannes and

Menton By Milena Radoman

A metro, a new PACA train line, a maritime shuttle, a new bypass: the Mayor of Nice and President
of the Nice Côte d'Azur Metropolitan Region, Christian Estrosi, gives an update on the progress of
these mobility solutions.

METRO given the opposition of Mayor Xavier Beck? if it is far from perfect, the situation has clearly
At what stage is the planned 9.5-kilometre, Do you think other projects could relieve improved and it will be even better tomorrow,
part-underground metro between the Nice traffic congestion between Nice and Monaco? since we will double the timetable by 2025
area and Monaco? Have feasibility studies The constant flow of vehicles on the RM 6007 with the opening to competition.
been carried out on the French side? What requires decisions to be made. More than The new line should also help improve things.
would its route be? 30,000 vehicles use this road every day and After years of withdrawal, where lines and
Since 2008, we have planned a metropolitan- the flow is likely to increase further. Current stations were closed, the announcement of a
wide transport plan for 2030, with a dual infrastructure will not be enough. new line is really good news. In total, we should
objective: to reduce automobile traffic flows We are all working together, with the Principality be able to go from the 69 round trips per day
and improve air quality. Travel between the and associated institutional players, to put in offered currently to 120 round trips per day
Nice Côte d'Azur Metropolitan Region and place solutions, just as we did recently with in 2025, for a daily total of 70,000 travellers.
Monaco is a subject of concern and we are the creation of the new Beausoleil motorway On the Cannes-Menton axis, the timetable will
working on all avenues, including the idea of interchange put into service by ESCOTA. be identical during off-peak hours and peak
a high-frequency railway line - why not in the For our part, we are making progress on hours with a train every quarter of an hour all
form of a metro between Nice and Monaco several developments in Cap d'Ail, including day long: a real regional RER.
with above-ground and underground sections? the creation of a hopper on the Moyenne For our part, we have already made good
As this is a state-to-state issue, the feasibility Corniche and studies with a view to widening progress in making rail traffic more fluid and
studies, the unveiling of the route and the the hospital roundabout and continuing the we are also making progress on infrastructure.
impetus can only come from France and boulevard du Jardin Exotique to absorb traffic Since the inauguration of the station at Nice
Monaco. As for me, I am obviously in favour without breaking capacity. All these projects Airport in September 2022, it is now possible
of this project, as I had the opportunity to say aim to respond to the increase in traffic, to to move very quickly from plane to train and
to the Minister of State, Pierre Dartout, and to avoid traffic jams and slowdowns which are to reach Monaco. We already count 6,500
the former French Prime Minister, Elisabeth very painful for users and seriously harm air users per day compared to 2,900 at the old
Borne; and as I have had the opportunity to quality. During rush hours, when the de Gaulle Nice Saint-Augustin station - more than twice
repeat as often as I can. It would be a huge intersection is congested, we often have to as many!
step forward. close the Rainier III Tunnel for safety reasons, And that's just the beginning. We will go
which further aggravates the problem. even further with the future Saint-Augustin
For the moment, Monaco seems to be multimodal exchange hub which will eventually
banking on the creation of a deterrent car TRAIN host the Nice Côte d'Azur Airport, France's
park in La Brasca, which could accommodate For the Vice-President of the PACA Region, second-busiest, as well as the new Nice Airport
a station for an express train link to the Jean-Pierre Serrus, the new PACA train line, TER and TGV station, the first bioclimatic
Principality. How is Nice positioned on this which should see its partial commissioning station in Europa! It will bring together three
project? Have you done feasibility studies? begin from 2026, is “the railway project of tram lines, the largest bus station in the
Could this be the first stage of a metro for the century.” Do you share this opinion? What department, served by urban and interurban
Nice? are you expecting of it? On the other side of buses, as well as bicycle facilities. It is not
Such parking will, in any case, be useful to the department, what is the status of your the new line alone which is the railway project
alleviate traffic flows in Monaco and in our RER local train project which would connect of the century, it is this entire set of projects
metropolitan network, specially if it integrates Nice to the Sophia Antipolis business park which allows us to fully enter the 21st century
a last-mile logistics platform. Obviously, this via Villeneuve-Loubet and Antibes? of the railway!
project led by the Monégasque state has my Since my election as Regional President at the
full support. end of 2015, I have been keen to improve the How will it fit in with the Genoa-Nice Airport
TER offer so that it becomes a real alternative line project? With Giovanni Toti, President
ROADS to the car. We had inherited a network that did of the Liguria Region, and Claudio Scajola,
How is the project to create a bypass on the not meet needs, with 20% of trains late and Mayor of Imperia and President of the
Moyenne Corniche in Cap d'Ail progressing, 10% of trains cancelled each day. Today, even Province of Imperia, you would like to see

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