President Emmanuel Macron has expressed a desire to lead France and Europe into the modern age. During his speech on Europe at La Sorbonne on April 24, he reiterated this sentiment. A group of commuters from the Clermont-Paris train line seized the opportunity to request a meeting with the President, urging for their railway line to be modernized. Their petition, launched last year to reduce travel time between Paris and Clermont to 2 hours and 30 minutes, has garnered over 12,000 signatures.
Commuters like Louise, who regularly take the train for work, express frustration over the unpredictability of travel times on the current line. The collective highlights that it takes less time to travel to Strasbourg or Lyon, cities farther from Paris than Clermont-Ferrand. This call for improvement comes as SNCF announced delays in delivering new trains to replace outdated ones, with the first trainsets not expected until 2027.
Following a serious incident in January that left passengers stranded overnight on the train, SNCF implemented a 40 million euro emergency plan and stationed a locomotive halfway in Nevers in March. However, the collective believes that these measures do not address the overall issues with the railway line. They are hopeful for a meeting with the President to discuss ways to modernize and improve the Paris-Clermont railway line.