a commercial project that forgets the users – Liberation

Auchan and the SNCF are preparing to transform the Gare du Nord into a shopping center which will require major work for several years. The protocol negotiated and signed in secret between the SNCF, the giant of mass distribution and the Mayor of Paris, only allowed marginal improvements to be obtained, in particular a small reduction in retail space and the creation of a park. better suited bike. However, the very nature of the project remains unacceptable and incompatible with the requirements of the Paris Climate Agreement and our conception of a quality public service.

Against urban ecology

Only 10% of the project costs relate to rail and station. The flow of travelers will not be improved, some travel times between train and metro or bus sometimes even lengthened, because the entire station has been designed to encourage passage in front of shops and not to make life easier for travelers. The metro, Transilien and RER platforms will remain crowded. The few micro-improvements will be paid for very dearly, with a project lasting several years generating a lot of waste and nuisance, not to mention the destruction of the Gare du Nord Échanges (the “Halle Duthilleul”), a building which is only twenty years old. . In terms of urban integration, the project is above ground. The new five-storey building will be attached to the historic train station, a masterpiece by architect Jacques Ignace Hittorff.

The impact of a station is strong on a district: precariousness, insecurity, noise, problems of cleanliness, pollution and congestion often go hand in hand with the formidable access to transport and the openness to all of northern Europe. However, these subjects are simply ignored. Finally, the arrival of the many new businesses will pose two major problems: deliveries by truck (the project does not plan to use rail freight) and the weakening of the businesses in the district and the suburban towns served, which do not really didn’t need this competition.

However, another renovation of the Gare du Nord is possible: a renovation that really fits into the long term; a renovation that puts intermodality (being able to switch from one mode of transport to another) and improving the reception of travelers and residents of the region at the heart of the project. A renovation which concentrates the improvements on the rail and on the “station” function. In short, a renovation that respects the Paris Agreement and the city of Paris.

Against the general interest

It is not so much a project to renovate a station, as the construction of a shopping center. The financing of a public service is therefore subordinated to private interests. The exclusive concession to operate this space is given to a subsidiary of Auchan, for a period of 46 years. Which amounts neither more nor less to a privatization of the station which does not speak its name.

This bet for 46 years is even quite anachronistic and risky, since one can doubt the economic success and the relevance of a monumental shopping center, near the center of Paris already well supplied. And in the event of failure, bankruptcy of the project, who can today say that all the risks will not be, once again, the responsibility of the SNCF and the public sector? We can fear that the SNCF will find itself in 20 years with a deserted real estate liner at the Gare du Nord and a still increased public debt.

On the contrary, a more modest project resolutely oriented towards railway activities can be entirely financed by the public authorities and by the SNCF, while preserving its heritage and favoring the general interest.

Against democracy

Finally, this project is problematic from a democratic point of view. The State and the SNCF have totally neglected the criticisms heard during the public inquiry and the consultation. The negotiations were held in the secrecy of the SNCF and the cabinet of the Mayor of Paris. Such a project has an impact just as much on Thalys, TGV, TER, RER and Transilien users as it does on Parisians in the 10th and 18th arrondissements. The Gare du Nord also concerns the inhabitants of Sevran, Sarcelles, Brussels or Compiègne. How can we undertake work of this magnitude, having a lasting impact on the lives of Ile-de-France residents, while a debate on the future of Ile-de-France begins as part of the regional electoral campaign? How has the State been able to seal the fate of the largest station in Europe and our region, without ever consulting the National Assembly? Why has the Ile-de-France region not intervened to impose the improvement and comfort of everyday travelers? Why was the agreement negotiated between the mayor of Paris, SNCF and Ceetrus not discussed before the Council of Paris, when it provides that the city waives all recourse against the project, and will not bring no support for associations which oppose it? Here are the citizens deprived of any criticism, while citizen and political opposition, especially among environmentalists and on the left, is increasing.

Another type of consultation would have been better able to respond to the challenges of such a project. A consensus conference involving associations and committed citizens, in dialogue with all the stakeholders concerned, would have guaranteed a project that is as close as possible to the general interest.

We, citizens of Ile de France and Europe, everyday travelers, demand the end of the pharaonic StatioNord project and defend the urgent and necessary improvements of the Gare du Nord, for a dignified reception of users and a better urban integration. We want a station serving the general interest. A station for everyone.

Julien Bayou, IDF Regional Advisor and EE-LV National Secretary, Dienabou Kouyate, user of the Transilien line H (Montigny Lès-Cormeilles, 95), Ulf Clerwall, elected from Paris 10th district and user of the RER B, Serge Remy, President of Retrouvons le Nord at the Gare du Nord, Celine Malaisé, IDF regional advisor and president of the Front de Gauche group, Anne-Claire Jarry-Bouabid, Regional advisor IDF Génération. s, Sylvain Raifaud, Councilor for Paris and the 10th district and Councilor for the Greater Paris Metropolis, Gérard Laudy, Chairman of the Inhabitants’ Committee Gare du Nord La Chapelle, Frédéric Héran, transport economist and urban planner, Marine Tondelier, City councilor of Hénin-Beaumont (Hauts de France) and TGV user, Thierry Brochot, Deputy Mayor in Creil (60) and TER user, Didier Le Reste, railway worker, former elected PCF of the 10th, Francois Béchieau, movement of progressives and elected from the 19th, Pierre Mansat, former Deputy Mayor of Paris, activist for the “Right to the City, Charlotte Nenner, co-head of the EE-LV Ile de France travel committee. Complete list of signatories : https://www.change.org/GareduNord

– .