France revises its ambitions down

The government has drawn a line under the "all TGV" and Pharaonic transportation policies, approving the orientations report Mobility 21 commission, presented Thursday, which favors the maintenance of the existing network, at the same time causing the discontent of number of "top elected officials."

The West and South branches of the high-speed line Rhine-Rhône or the Toulouse Narbone are pushed to a "distant horizon" after 2050. As the A26 motorway between Auxerre and Troyes or the A51 between Grenoble and Gap, among others.

The commission, headed by the deputy PS Calvados Philippe Duron, has lowered the ambitions of the state diagram contained in national transport infrastructure (Snit), height of 70 major projects for a budget of 245 billion euros over 25 years.

Transport Minister, Frédéric Cuvillier, welcomed this report puts an end to a "list Prévert (...) impossible to finance." He also welcomed the return of "some form of planning" and "the strategist state."

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, approved this, and expects "to return to (his) account prior recommendations (the report)." It will unveil the July 9 great investment plan of government, which will have a transportation component.

The report leaves "all TGV" and major highway projects which France was accustomed (four high-speed lines are now under construction, between Tours and Bordeaux, Le Mans and Rennes, Metz and Strasbourg and bypassing Nimes and Montpellier). It focuses on priority the maintenance of the existing network.