Find a second life for old regional railway tracks in France

1. Find a second life for old regional railway tracks in France Transport perspective for the future and protection of the environment

2. Summary 1. The situation of old regional railway tracks in France : the need to preserve the infrastructure and the environment 2. Case study : comparison of 2 tracks in terms of mastering the vegetation 3. An innovative solution to master the vegetation : the animal maintainers

3. 1. The situation of old regional railway tracks in France : the need to preserve the infrastructure and the environment

4. The old regional tracks in France TTK’s experience as a consultancy company specialized in public transportation • The concentration of jobs and services in the cities generates transport needs that are not satisfied with an adequate public transport offer outside of the major French metropolitan areas, increasing the use of individual cars. • Impacts on the environment are well known : traffic jams and CO2 emissions. • Car modal split is too high considering that regional railway lines represent nowadays more than the half of the existing French rail network. • The huge majority of these tracks is unfortunately underused: traffic is very low, if not inexistent because of closed lines, even when there is a local demand. • When a line is closed, its image often suffers due to poor maintenance (wild development of vegetation, closing landscape) • To re-open it in the short term is often expensive and difficult and dismantling the infrastructure seems to be easier. How to explain it? Which solution to solve this problem and preserve tracks and environment for the future?

5. The old regional tracks in France • A brief historical overview of the French local rail network : • Tracks from UIC Groups 7 to 9 : less than 20 trains per week (often only 1 to 10) • Not electrified tracks, with aged infrastructures and civil engineering works • 46% of the network (13.600km from 29.500km – 4.300km just for freight transport) • Lack or absence of investment in maintenance and infrastructure renewal • Maintenance financing by the PTA (Regions) and SNCF, but priority set to main lines

6. A brief historical overview of the French local rail network : A study of the French rail network made by the Ecole Fédérale Polytechnique de Lausanne (EPFL) in 2005 noticed the danger of closing but it was impossible to save them all due to increasing costs and financial disengagement of the state Closing lines are in the best case replaced by busses and when a track is dismantled, train services never come again The old regional tracks in France (extract from Audit EPFL 2005)

7. The old regional tracks in France TTK’s message to PTA and transport actors • A regeneration of the track might seem to be too expensive and complex today, but it is interesting to think in a mid-term perspective, considering that today’s restrictions would be solved by : • the implementation of efficient energy-cell powered rolling stock for the years 2030-2050 • a possible regional rail market opening in the 2020’s, which could make these old tracks more competitive and attractive than now (simplified operations, development of suburban tramways…) • The main priority in absence of traffic is to master the development of the vegetation to assure an optimal drainage and protect the infrastructure, especially bridges and canalizations. • This action has a positive impact on the environment too by preventing the emergence of invading vegetal species and reducing the risk of fire in summer. • Implementing innovative alternative use of the tracks, for example with touristic purposes like rail-cycle or horse-drawn streetcars, will allow restoring easily and with lower costs the public transportation function of a line in the future.

8. 2. Case study : comparison of 2 tracks in terms of mastering the vegetation

9. Case study – comparison of 2 tracks Track 1 : Line Billom-Vertaizon Track data • Build in 1875 • 9 km – single track, non-electrified • Stops : 2 (Vertaizon, Billom) • without significant works – location in a flat area • Crossings : 16 Operations • No trains since 1964 (regional) and 2005 (freight) • Vélorail(rail-cycle) between Vertaizon and Espirat Propriety • French Network Provider (SNCF Réseau) for 0,642 km • Puy-de-Dôme (Region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in 2017)

10. Case study – comparison of 2 tracks Track 2 : Line Alès-Bessèges Track data • Build in 1857 • 30 km – single track, non-electrified • Stops : 8 • 2 great bridges and 4 tunnels – location in a valley • Crossings : 14 Operation • Alès-Salindres : ~ 2 freight trains / month • Salindres-Bessèges : no trains since 2012 Propriety French Network Provider (SNCF Réseau)

11. Case study – comparison of 2 tracks • Track 1 : Line Billom-Vertaizon • Maintenance policy • Control and vegetation management with mechanical cut yearly in at the end of spring and before fall • Alternative use of the track • Vélorail (rail-cycle) between Vertaizon and Espirat • Complementary action from the rail-cycle operator on his part of the track • Track 2 : Line Alès-Bessèges • Maintenance policy • Periodic control of civil engineering works and crossings • Lack of vegetation management • Alternative use of the track • Nothing for the moment (but touristic train in the past)

12. Case study – comparison of 2 tracks Track 1 : Vertaizon-Billom Consequences • Development of the vegetation is mastered • No invasive species on the track • Limited risk of fire risk in summer • Shared maintenance costs (one part for the owner/PTA, one part for the rail-cycle operator) • Lower costs in case of re-opening

13. Case study – comparison of 2 tracks Track 2 : Line Alès-Bessèges Consequences • Trees growing into the retaining wall and destroying it (Paulownia) • Development of invasive species on the track (Ailanthus) • Impossibility to access with maintenance vehicle • Increased fire risk in summer • Higher Costs in case of re-opening or alternative use of the tracks due to the importance of vegetation works needed

14. Case study – comparison of 2 tracks Track 2 : Line Alès-Bessèges • an important development of the vegetation within only 3 years 2011 2015 2011 2015

15. Case study – comparison of 2 tracks Track 2 : Line Alès-Bessèges • an important development of the vegetation within only 3 years 2011 2015

16. Case study – comparison of 2 tracks Some lessons learned thanks to the case study • The location of the track and the difficulty to access could made the maintenance process complex and expensive • Financing and manpower shortages to realize the maintenance works could require to set priority and to abandon some local lines • Divergent opinions about the future of the track could bring to inaction • Find an alternative use for old tracks is not always possible but highly recommended • Acting yearly as soon as the track is closed prevents with minimal investment now huge costs in the future to re-activate the tracks or use it for other purpose • Share the work or the costs between different actors when possible • Let more place to local initiative if a systematic solution couldn’t be find

17. 3. An innovative solution to master the vegetation : the animal maintainers

18. An innovative solution A new concept developed by Ecozoone : let do the animals help us to master the vegetation • Ecozoone is a French company based in North of France proposing a new way to master the vegetation on the tracks : the ecological weeding (écopâturage) • The concept of ecological weeding is based in this case on : • a moving group of animals led by a shepherd and his dogs • working on and along the tracks during the year • mastering the vegetation by eating and trampling the plants • without using mechanical of chemical treatments • It preserves the biodiversity thanks to a natural cut specialized on some species • It doesn’t disturb the local fauna like mechanical works • It reaches location that are difficult to access for humans

19. An innovative solution A new concept developed by Ecozoone : let do the animals help us to master the vegetation • Each kind of animals used for ecological weeding (goats, sheep, horses, donkey, cows…) is adapted to a specific landscape due to its weight, its adaptation to the local climatic conditions and which plants it eats (photos Ecozoone)

20. An innovative solution Positive experiences of track maintenance by Ecozoone and SNCF Réseau • Ecozoone is working since 2 years in Burgundy inside and around Dijon to maintain earthworks and sidewalks along the tracks for the local rail maintenance unit (Infrapôle Bourgogne Franche-Comté). • In 2015, the animals from Ecozoone treated the vegetation on the entire track between Montluçon – Eygurande (77km - with donkeys, ponies and goats and promoting the biodiversity by using a local sheep race : Ravas sheep). • These two success (between other successful examples) prove that preserving the environment and the rail infrastructures is possible with alternative efficient methods allowing financial und human costs reduction. (photos Ecozoone)

21. Conclusion

22. Conclusion Preserving the local rail network and the biodiversity : a common objective to transmit a patrimony to next generations for a sustainable development • The French local network of lines is a patrimony for next generations, even if is impossible to develop again a public transport offer by train in short time. • Such positive economic conditions that allowed the emergence of this network in the nineteenth century will probably never reproduce again and the new edification of a similar network couldn’t be financed nowadays. • Moreover, those infrastructures are even well integrated in the landscape and less aggressive than new roads for the environment. • A regular maintenance allows to let the landscapes free of invading species , to preserve the biodiversity and to allow a quicker regeneration of the track and at lower costs for transport perspectives or alternative use. • Innovative methods like ecological weeding offer alternatives to reduce or ban the use of mechanical or chemical herbicides. They are particularly efficient when used yearly and as soon as the line is closed, to let the landscape open.

23. Conclusion To meditate : a sentence… perhaps not so wrong « Ich glaube an das Pferd. Das Automobil ist eine vorübergehende Erscheinung. » (I believe in horses. Automobiles are just a passing phenomenon) the German Kaiser Wilhelm II. (1859-1941) (photos Ecozoone)

24. Thank you for you attention Contact : xavier.orthlieb@ttk.de www.ttk.de