A Meeting With the President: Clermont-Paris Rail Users Seek Improvements

In a recent speech at La Sorbonne on April 24, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his desire to lead France and Europe towards modernity. Taking advantage of this sentiment, a group of Clermont-Paris train users has requested a meeting with the President to discuss the challenges facing the Paris-Clermont railway line.

The group’s petition, launched last year, aims to reduce travel time between Paris and Clermont from the current 3 hours and 24 minutes to 2.5 hours. With over 12,000 signatures, the petition highlights the frustration of passengers like Louise, who deal with unpredictable arrival times on the train.

Comparing travel times with other cities like Strasbourg and Lyon, which are farther from Paris than Clermont-Ferrand, the group underscores the need for improvements to the railway line. This plea comes amid delays in the delivery of new “Oxygène” trains, scheduled to replace outdated Intercités trains, with no set delivery date yet.

Following a serious incident in January where passengers were stranded overnight on the train, SNCF implemented an emergency plan in February. Although an emergency locomotive was added in Nevers in March to help alleviate some issues on the line, it does not address underlying problems facing Paris-Clermont railway line fully. The collective led by spokesperson Stéphanie Picard hopes to secure a meeting with Élysée Palace to further discuss these issues.

During his speech at La Sorbonne on April 24th, French President Emmanuel Macron once again reiterated his desire for France and Europe to embrace modernity. As part of this vision for progress, a group of Clermont-Paris train users has reached out to request a meeting with him to address specific concerns about their city’s railway line.

The group’s petition launched last year has garnered over 12 thousand signatures and seeks to reduce travel time between Paris and Clermont from three hours and twenty-four minutes to two hours and fifty minutes.

Louise is just one passenger who constantly deals with unpredictable arrival times on the train. Comparing these travel times with those of other cities like Strasbourg and Lyon—which are further away from Paris—the collective highlights that improvements are needed on this railway line.

This call for action comes at a time when delays in delivering new “Oxygène” trains are causing inconvenience for passengers as they wait for them to replace outdated Intercités trains.

In response to a serious incident that took place in January where passengers were stranded overnight on the train due