{"id":543820,"date":"2026-09-18T17:19:29","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T07:19:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=74398"},"modified":"2026-09-18T17:19:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T07:19:29","slug":"a-waste-of-public-money-e17-million-invested-in-unused-french-freight-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=543820","title":{"rendered":"\u2018A waste of public money\u2019: \u20ac17 million invested in unused French freight line"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three years after a partial refurbishment at a cost of \u20ac17 million, the rail freight line linking Thouars and Niort, in western France, is no longer in use because of gradient issues, sparking claims of \u201ca waste of public money.\u201d The Thouars council will discuss the matter at a meeting on 24 September.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>Local authorities contributed more than 50% of the cost of the upgrade which was completed at the end of 2023, the line having been closed since 2015.<\/p>\n

It entailed the renewal of 33 kilometres of track, maintenance and repair of engineering structures, earthworks and hydraulic structures, modernisation of safety installations at level crossings, regeneration and simplification of signalling installations, and modernisation of telecommunications facilities.<\/p>\n

One of the main users of the line was quarry group Carri\u00e8res Roy who saw in the re-opening of the rail connection a means to shift shipments<\/a> from truck to train.<\/p>\n