The announcement goes back a year. On May 24, 2022 precisely, the CEO of the SNCF group, Jean-Pierre Farandou, had indicated that a high-speed line between Paris and Berlin was going to see the light of day “in December 2023”. This outing did not take place just anywhere: in Strasbourg. Logically, the Alsatian capital seemed perfectly suited to appear on the route…
Not that much after all, according to a letter sent Wednesday by the Minister of Transport Clément Beaune to the head of the French company. “I was recently informed that the preferred connection at this stage would be via Sarrebourg, rather than Strasbourg, due to the sufficient availability of train paths on the German network or at Frankfurt station”, writes the elected Renaissance, before clearly taking offense.
“The technical elements since brought to my attention cannot suffice to provide proof of the impossibility of passing through Strasbourg […] Therefore, I thank you for taking advantage of the additional time before commissioning to reconsider the service via Strasbourg and Karlsruhe, as requested by many elected representatives of the territory, German and French. »
The German minister contacted?
The minister still insists on “the status of European capital (Strasbourg) essential for our country and the Franco-German relationship”. He finally promises to get closer “to [son] German counterpart so that this approach is carried out jointly with Deutsche Bahn”.
This is not the first time that Clément Beaune has publicly defended the Alsatian city. Already during the strong period of Covid-19, he had come to Strasbourg several times to emphasize the importance of the seat of the European Parliament. The MEPs had finally returned to sit there after sixteen months of absence. So, what end for the Paris-Berlin high-speed line?