France’s national program for the transport infrastructure (SNIT), presented in July 2010, stipulates EUR 170 Billion worth of investments over a period of 20-30 years. This program announces a revolution of the transport sector in the context of climate changes and its implementation will determine an annual reduction of 2 million tones of CO2 emissions. The entire document is included in the Environmental Law.
Railway transport represents a priority. That is why 51.9% of the total investments will go to the railway sector. Public transport will also receive 32.3% of the funds, while road transport will benefit from only 4.5%. The document presents 4 “Actions” for optimizing the existing transport system, improving the performances of regional services, improving energy efficiency and reducing the environmental impact of the transport sector. The development projects are designed to solve the problems related to mobility and transport management, seeing as the existing transport system can no longer meet the requirements in a satisfactory manner. According to the document, the authorities plan to develop high-speed rail links by 2020 (2.307 km of high-speed rail), which require an investment of more than EUR 65 Billion. Following 2020, the railway network will be extended by another 1.496 km, with investment of EUR 19 Billion. As for the railway freight transport, the program includes various development and modernisation projects. In regards to urban transport, the SNIT program sets out very clear objectives for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, rail traffic decongestion in urban areas and the development of a quality transport. The development of the public transport infrastructure in the province and in Ile-de-France has been estimated at EUR 53 Billion. However, the 176 page document doesn’t stipulate the value of the investments allocated by the French state or any other details related to the financing of the above mentioned projects.
Jean-Louis Borloo, Minister for Ecology, Energy and Sustainable Development:
“Three years ago, the project to double the overly crowded highways like Lille-Paris or Bourgogne-Nice was still under evaluation. Today, that is no longer the case”.
by Pamela Luică
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